Rising To The Top
by Jmtx100
Summary: Ash Ketchum fell to the very bottom, after he was stripped of his chance to finally achieve something in life. However, when everyone considers him dead, he recieves an interesting offer. Is he going to reach the top once again, to fight for the truth and justice? Rated T, Pearlshipping and other minor shippings!
1. An offer, you just can't refuse

_**Hey guys, I'm Jmtx100 and this is my first ever fanfiction story. I love Pokemon stories, I read a lot of them, but only few of them made a really good impression on me. So I thought I would try to write a Fanfiction Story myself.**_

 _ **I've put this story after the Unova series, because the X &Y doesn't fit properly here. Also amourshipping is quite overused now. I won't lie, it took me about two months to create this first chapter, mainly because of the language barrier. Although I'm not so bad at English (at least, that's my teacher said), I find it really hard to translate every idea that pops out in my head to English, without making any crucial mistakes. But forget about me, let's focus on the story!**_

 _ **Note: Reuploaded**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't know Pokemon and all of that stuff…**_

* * *

 _Silver Town, Pokemon Center_

It was a busy evening in the Pokemon Center. It was full of people and Nurse Joy could barely deal with all the trainers that arrived to her workplace. Even though she was working hard to finish everything on time, Nurse Joy laid her eyes on a group of friends, who arrived here an hour ago. They were all relaxing after a rough day, watching the news:

' _Welcome people to the PokeNews! My name is Alexa Pansy and today we will cover the topic of Ash Ketchum.'_ The group shivered when they heard that name, but the news continued. ' _It's been three years since Ash Ketchum, wanted for assaulting The Kanto Champion, Lance disappeared. Their battle, was postponed during the last fight between Lance's Dragonite and Ash's Pikachu, because of the incoming storm. During the break, Lance got assaulted by none other than Ash Ketchum. After that incident, the pretender to Lance's title disappeared and never came back.'_

' _Although the majority of respondent_ s _consider Ash Ketchum dead by now, there are many people who believe they saw him alive, including the elite group of specialists created by the government. One of the most important members- Cilan from the Striaton City, said that his group collected enough evidence to believe that Ash Ketchum is still alive. But, because tomorrow will be the third anniversary of his disappearance, and no one ever gave a real evidence of Ash Ketchum being still alive, Pokemon League Association and General Police Department will officially consider him dead, tomorrow… It's been Alexa Pansy for the PokeNews. I'll see you people tomorrow!'_

The news finished, but the group stayed quiet. They were all just sitting in silence for couple of minutes, thinking about _that_ day. Day, they all betrayed Ash Ketchum…

The first one to break the silence was May, a brunette girl with a green bandana on her head "I don't know about you guys, but I sometimes feel weird about what we have done that day."

Soon another female from the group, Misty who had red hair tried to comfort everybody "And if it was really Ash? We had the right to accuse him of everything. It's obvious!" she shouted.

"No one proved it Misty. Besides he was our friend and friends should help each other. Not accuse themselves of crime." Iris, a purple haired girl responded.

Next one to talk was a dark skinned man, the tallest of the whole group, Brock. He tried to calm everybody down "May, Iris, we all should feel responsible for how we treated him." He continued "But Misty has a point, he was the only person, who was able to do something like this." he finished.

"But Brock!" Dawn, a blunette girl interrupted nearly shouting. Then she changed her tone, when she saw that everybody in the Pokemon Center were looking at them. "Although we had all the rights to accuse him…" She stopped for a second, trying her best not to cry in front of her friends. Then, she sighed and started again "I just wish we could rewind time and give him a chance to explain himself…"

"Dawn, don't blame y-" tried to say clearly the youngest member of the group, Max. He got quickly stopped by Gary, the third male in the group.

"Max, shut up, let the adults handle this." And while everyone tried to comfort Dawn, Max became angry. Every time he wanted to say something, someone had to interrupt him, even his older sister May.

"Remember it's Ashy- boy we are talking about, I'm 100% sure he did it. I knew him far too long, to be wrong" continued Gary.

"I guess you're right" said the blunette. But still, she wasn't convinced about Ash assaulting Lance.

"Come on guys let's change the topic! Pokemon Master Tournament is coming next week, so we should set off tomorrow, because Vertress City is far away from here!" said. And then they went on planning their journey to Unova.

 _Meanwhile White Forest, Unova_

Ash was napping, alone, under a big tree somewhere in the middle of the forest. He was –as always- deep in thoughts. After being betrayed by his former „friends", he did really change a lot. He even dyed his hair dark blonde to not be recognized. Ash got slimmer and taller. He was wearing a unzipped black hoodie with a gold zip fastener and a black T-shirt with under the hoodie. He also had a amulet with a Mega Stone inside it. But what singled him out was his 'Indiana Jones' hat ( **Author's Note** : I don't really know how to describe it, but you should know what I'm talking about) which was the same colour as his hoodie and daydreaming was soon interrupted, by someone who happened to be approaching him. Ash didn't care who it was. There was only one person, who was able to find him in this forest ( **An** : White Forest here, is a completely wild area, isolated from people. Only few of them knows about it.)

"Do you know, why I am spending my time here?" No one responded, but it didn't stop Ash from continuing. "Because it reminds me of a young trainer, whose dream was to become a Pokemon Master. Even though, no one truly believed in his skills, because it was more like a childhood dream for them, he didn't give up. He worked hard every day and made his way to the top, just to fell and become a lonely freak with no skills and possibilities for a better future"

"Ash, do you know, why do we fall?" the ex-pokemon trainer did not answer to that question.

"To pick ourselves up" said a mysterious person behind the blonde haired man.

"What's the deal Natural? You didn't come just to tell me this, did you?" said Ash.

"How many times I have to tell you, that I don't like this name. Would you please call me _just_ N? Besides can't a old friend of you see how are you doing?" said N who crouched next to Ash. They looked like alternate versions of each other. While Ash had a dark outfit, N had a long green hair followed by his white jacket and beige trousers. He had a gold bracelet on his wrist and a white cap.

"Hey, you called me Ash in the first place." Both Ash and N smiled "N, you are a very skillful person, but you just can't lie. Tell me, what's going on?" finished Ash.

"I guess you're right, Aiden". After the incident, Ash changed his identity, so no one could track him down. Both men stood there for couple of seconds in silence.

"You're not a freak Ash." N broke the silence "It's obvious, that you're acting like that because of your terrible past. And you're not lonely because you got me, Anthea, Concordia and your Pokemon of course." N stopped talking for a while. He looked at a envelope, which he was hiding behind his back this whole time. Then he finally gave it to Ash. "Read it, that's the main reason why I came here" The Blonde haired man gave N a quick, suspicious look, opened the envelope, took the letter from it and started reading:

 _Greetings Ash,_

 _If you're reading this, that means N finally found you. Don't be mad at him, I helped him with something and in return, I asked him to give you this letter, since I know you two still had contact with each other._

 _After you disappeared, I started my own investigation and I found out that Lance framed you. I don't know, if you're aware of this, so I wrote it just in case you didn't. I showed the evidence to the PLA, but they didn't believe me. According to me, they just don't want to admit that they made a mistake._

 _The whole point of this letter is that as the time went, I got bored with my Battle Frontier, so I came up with a completely new idea of creating the biggest Pokemon event ever – Pokemon Master Tournament (you know that I'm not good at creating fancy names). The winner will become a new Pokemon Master. This title is equal to all the Champions, Princesses etc. And as far as I know, your dream was to become a Pokemon Master. I thought it would be a great idea to make a comeback after all these years. I don't really know if you follow the news, but tomorrow you'll be officially considered dead, so you're like a zombie now. Also your arrest warrant will be canceled, so you are finally free to join!_

 _The tournament is beginning in a month from the date on the envelope in Vertress City in Unova. I'm sure you know this place well, since you participated there in the Vertress Conference. And don't worry about your fake identity(N told me), I already spoke to Nurse Joy in Vertress City to keep your arrival as a secret until the tournament starts, which I believe you'll make even more exciting._

 _P.S There are a lot of people who still wants to find you, I already saw a 1 000 000 $ prize for your head, so take care of yourself!_

 _Your dear friend, Scott_

Ash finished reading. "I would finally have a chance to become a real Pokemon Master!" Ash got excited for a second, but he quickly changed his mind "On the other hand, I promised myself I would never participate in a Pokemon battle again. Especially after what happened _that_ day…"

* * *

 _Flashback_

"Pikachu, use thunderbolt!" shouted excited Ash. He was so close to defeating Lance, the champion of Kanto. It was his first step to becoming a Pokemon Master.

"Dragonite, dodge it and attack Pikachu with your Dragon Claw!" Lance's Dragon Pokemon was about to execute the command of his trainer, when the rain started to fall and the sky went dark. Then the announcer spoke:

"I'm sorry to tell you, but the rest of the match will be postponed until tomorrow's morning since they storm is about to begin" the crowd groaned in anger, but the heavy rain changed their minds immediately. All the people started to ran to their hotels like a group of angry Tauros.

Ash went to the Pokemon Center to heal his Pokemon and then he made his way back to his hotel, without saying anything and without expressing any emotions. But in his mind, he was like a teenage girl. He felt disappointment, sadness, anger and understanding at the same time. He met with his friends in the lift. Every single one of them- Misty, Brock, Gary, Tracey, May, Max, Dawn, Iris, Cilan and Professor Oak tried to cheer him up. He wasn't in the mood to talk, but he didn't know that it was the last time he saw them caring about him.

After a couple of minutes of unsuccessful "cheering up" process, Misty started to get angry. She was not the patient one, Ash knew it, but he was too busy fighting in his mind. He didn't even notice that she started to yell at him. He zoned out and even Misty's mallet didn't scare him.

"Ash Ketchum! How dare you ignoring me!" shouted Misty. Everyone laid their eyes on Ash, he looked like a wreck. Even Misty stopped yelling at him, when he didn't respond.

"Oh my, it's the first time my mallet did not work" she sadly confirmed.

"I'm going for a walk, alone" Ash managed to say. He didn't want anyone to see him in this state.

No one followed Ash except for Pikachu. The yellow mouse met with his trainer couple of minutes later in the forest next to Indigo Plateau.

"Pikachu, I thought I made myslef clear. I want to be alone." said Ash.

Pikachu didn't say anything, but Ash knew exactly what was his buddy thinking about.

"I know you wanted to keep me company, but I just need some time alone". Pikachu looked at his trainer once again. Ash broke down and started crying.

"I don't know why I'm crying Pikachu. We are still able to win this battle, that's for sure, but it seems like every time we fight, every time we are close to achieving our goals, something doesn't want us to win. It's so frustrating Pikachu!" he was waiting for his Pokemon to say something, but the yellow mouse didn't respond. Ash looked up and saw his Pikachu, frightened, as well as… Lance with his Dragonite standing in front of him. "What is Lance doing here?" raven haired boy asked himself.

"Dragonite, use Hyper Beam on this bastard Ketchum!" Ash found the answer too late, he couldn't escape the Hyper Beam. He closed his eyes and spread his hands, because he accepted his fate. He just waited for the Hyper Beam to kill him, but the attack never came. He opened his eyes and started crying. Hyper Beam was blocked by Pikachu, who felt on the ground. Nearly dead.

"Don't even think of telling anyone what happened here, or you'll never be able to see the sunlight again" Lance flew away on his Dragonite.

Ash didn't waste time on chasing Lance. He started running towards the Pokemon Center straight away, with Pikachu in his hands. It was killing him inside, to see his best friend in a state like that, so he started crying, again.

'Nurse Joy please help!' Ash cried while running into the Pokemon Center.

"Ash…oh no, what happened to Pikachu?!" said Nurse Joy, who obviously knew Ash, by now. Who wouldn't?

"I'll tell you everything later. The only thing that I can tell you right know, is that he nearly got killed by a strong Hyper Beam."

* * *

"Hey Ash, is everything all right?" asked N.

"Sorry, I zoned out for a minute." The blonde haired man looked at the date on the envelope. He realized there were still two weeks before Pokemon Master Tournament starts.

"Give me that letter" said N. Ash quickly handled the letter to his friend.

"What are you going to do?" said N, when he was finally done.

"I think t's obvious... I won't participate. I'll never come back to battling"

"WHAT?!" shouted surprised N "Ash when I first met you, I saw this remarkable bond that you created with your Pokemon. You looked confident, strong and most important, you looked happy. Now you're staring at the sky every day, doing nothing and telling yourself that you live a good life". Ash looked surprised, too. He never saw N that angry.

"Alakazam?" asked the Psi Pokemon, who appeared out of nowhere.

"This Alakazam is your friend, isn't he?" asked annoyed Ash. He wasn't suprised at all. N rarely travels without _a friend_.

"Every Pokemon is my friend, you know it" smirked the green haired man. "Just talk to your Pokemon, please. After all, it's their decision, too." finished N.

"Ok, but first I have to meet with someone" said Ash after a brief moment.

"Where are we heading then?" joked N.

"Alakazam, take us to Pallet Town"

* * *

 **So guys, that's the end of the first chapter. Wow! I never thought that I would be able to write nearly 3,000 words in English! Anyways, I want to you to let me know about any mistakes that I made during this story, any ideas or characters you want me to include. In a word, a feedback from the readers would be nice :) See you in the next chapter!**


	2. Revealing the past

_**Hey guys, it's me Jmtx100 with the second chapter of my story! I managed to finish this episode earlier, than I expected, so I'm posting it today! I'll write the details under this chapter, so be sure to read it as well!**_ _ **But enough talking, let's focus on the story!**_

 _ **Note: Reuploaded**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon**_

* * *

 _Vermilion City, Kanto_

Few days passed since the evening in the Silver Town. All of the betrayers were siting in a cafe near the Vermilion City's Port. They were obviously heading to Unova, but first they had to meet with someone.

"Look! Here they come!" shouted May. Soon they saw 4 people running towards them.

'Drew, Stephan! We are glad to see you guys again!' said Misty on the behalf of the group, when they finally met with the others.

"You're right, it's been so long!" said Drew.

"Far too long!" said Brock.

"Hey Iris, where is Cilan?" asked surprised Stephan. "I thought he travelled with you?"

"He went to Unova earlier, to finish his work in the Striaton Gym, so he'll meet us there" answered the Purple haired girl.

After a lunch, where all of them shared their latest achievements and memorable moments, they were finally ready to take on the boat to Unova.

"Come on guys, let's not waste any more time" yelled excited Max. It was his first trip to Unova. "Iris told me so many cool things about Unova, I can't wait to see all of the Pokemon that live there!" said still pumped up Max.

When they boarded on the cruise ship, each of them went their own ways. Dawn and Misty went to the spa; Brock chased some preety women, like he always did; Stephan went to work out with Sawk; Gary went to the pool (it was a luxurious cruiser); and Iris tried to call Cilan, to see how was he doing. The only people that stayed in their rooms were Max, May and Drew. Soon someone knocked on the siblings doors.

"May, it's Drew. I was just wondering if you're interested in going to the arcade with me?"

"Sure Drew, just give me a minute" May then shouted to Max who was unpacking himself in the bedroom. "Max, I'm going with Drew to the Arcade. Don't do anything stupid until I come back!"

"Hey, I wanna go too!" said Max

"Come on little bro, give me and Drew some _privacy"_ ' she wanted to spend some time with her _future boyfriend_ , but Max also wanted to go somewhere. His sister was always dragging him with her, now it was time for him to decide what to do.

"Hey, I'm not _little_ bro, because I'm already 13. I can stroll around the cruise ship by myself!" said Max.

"I can't let you stroll on the ship, because I promised mom and dad to look after you" replied May.

"It's not fair! You became independent when you were 10! Don't you remember travelling in Hoenn with Me, Brock and Ash?!" he mentioned Ash on a purpose. Every time someone mentioned him, May was getting angry, because she couldn't handle the truth about betraying him. Max was the only one to notice, that during their travels May had a huge crush on Ash. She was never brave enough to tell him, and after he died, she moved on onto Drew.

"Don't you dare mentioning him again! That's one of the reasons I don't want you to stroll around by yourself. I made a lot of stupid mistakes when I was your age and Ash was the biggest mistake of my life!"

"So why don't you look after me in the Arcade, hm? You can easily pretend to be Drew's girlfriend _while_ making me stay away from the troubles!" said cocky Max. He wanted to play with his sister's emotions. But May run out of patience.

"Okay, now you've just made me really mad. You are staying here, while I'm going to have fun with Drew and you have nothing to say, moron!" yelled May. She quickly grabbed the key and locked Max from the outside( **An** : Just imagine that she could do that ok?)

"Okay Drew, now I'm ready to go" smirked May.

"Hey, it's not fair! One day I'll get you May Maple!" shouted Max from the other side of the door.

"As you wish" said cheerfully Drew. The whole situation with the Maple's made him laugh all the time. He was so lucky to be the only child in his family.

 _Meantime, Pallet Town_

' _Here lies Delia Ketchum. A great friend and a loving mother'_

"It's been two hours, since we arrived here and Ash didn't say a word. He is just staring at his mom's grave. However, he is visiting the graveyard for the first time, so it is a great pain for him. Arceus, why does he have to suffer so much?" said N to himself.

Ash was deep in thoughts ' _Mom, I'm sorry that I have never visited you, since they all turned their backs on me, but I wasn't strong enough to show up in Pallet. You probably suffered way more than me, I just wish I could see you one more time to apologize_ ' Ash was starting to break down, but he kept 'talking' to his mother ' _Am I doing the right thing? Do I need to go through that pain again? Or just leave it like that? No I'll prove them wrong. I have to… But what if I lose in the first round? I don't even know if I'm stubborn enough, to participate in a Pokemon battle. Maybe I lost all my skills? I'll never be able to prove everyone wrong. And my Pokemon? They are all living a peaceful life now. The majority of them are much happier this way… NO! I have to reach the top. Everyone that cares about me would love to see that. N, Anthea, Concordia, Mom and especially Pikachu…_ '

He kept on thinking, when he finally said a sentence loud "Damn, it will not be easy at all…" And Ash scrubbed his neck, like he did few years ago. N saw his 'signature move' and smiled. From now on, he knew for 100% that Ash Ketchum is going to make a comeback. Maybe N didn't like to see Pokemon in pain, but to be honest, he didn't like people in pain either. Especially people with a pure heart, like Ash.

Their visit was soon interrupted by some voices approaching them. Ash, realizing that he is running out of time, quickly placed a daisy on the tomb of his mother and teleported away with N and Alakazam. The voices appeared to be Professor Oak and Professor Ivy, who came to Pallet Town to keep the Pokemon Professor company, since he was alone in Pallet. After Ash's death, Professor Oak was in a deep depression and his researches became unsuccessful. So Tracey- his previous assistant, moved to a Pokemon Lab in Jotho. Professor Oak also became a bankrupt, since he wasn't earning at all. He didn't have enough money to keep Ash's Pokemon. He couldn't longer pet them or feed them properly. That being said, he released them. Happily, N and Ash were able to find all of them and bring them to White Forest, where they were living a good life, which Professor Oak didn't know. Professor Oak could not believe what he has done to Ash, few years back. _'If I could rewind time, I would never accuse him of that again_ ' he thought to himself. He really regretted that decision.

When they reached the graveyard, Prof. Oak walked to Delia Ketchum's grave and noticed a small daisy on her grave. Professor Oak thought _'That's weird. As far as I'm concerned, no one ever visited her grave, since she has no family members left._ ' Then, he realized something ' _It can't be could it?_ ' inside he felt like resurrected. A new hope came into his heart. _'Maybe Ash is still alive. He was always like a grandchild for me. While Gary left Pallet, Ash made sure to visit me every time he's come back from another region. And I was foolish enough to accuse him of hurting people'_ he thought to himself.

Ash, N and Alakazam teleported to a hill near Pallet Town, from where you were able to see the whole Town and its surroundings. Ash usually came here as a child, so it was yet another painful, childhood memory for him. He always played with Gary and Gary's other friends here… - _Friends_ \- …It was the most painful word, he ever heard. It reminded him of the evening, when he got betrayed by his own _friends_ …

* * *

 _Flashback_

Ash was never that exhausted. 4 hours have passed since he got to the Pokemon Center. ' _Pikachu is in coma. That's why he isn't waking up_ ' These words engraved in his memory. During these 4 hours, Ash thought about everything Pikachu did for him, the yellow mouse even sacrificed himself to help the raven haired trainer.

"Ash you have to rest. Your friends are probably worried about you" said politely Nurse Joy

"I can't leave Pikachu. Not now- he needs me" said depressed Ash. "Why don't you call them from here?"

"I'm sorry, but the storm interferes with the radio transmitters and no one in Kanto is able to call anyone. However we are lucky to have the electricity. The Eastern Kanto don't have it." confirmed Nurse Joy.

"Okay, but please look after Pikachu. We can't let him die like this" begged Ash.

"Don't worry" said Nurse Joy "I'm a professional"

The next few minutes Ash spent running towards the hotel. It took him a little bit longer than he expected, maybe even an hour, because of the heavy rain ad storm. When he finally made it, he knocked the door. It was soon answered by Dawn.

"Dawn, everyone, I'm sorry it took me so long, but Pikachu and I, we, the Hyper Beam, Pokemon Center" Ash tried his best to explain himself, but he was stressed out.

"How dare you showing up here!" shouted Misty from behind. And Ash looked inside their room. Dawn was frightened, everyone was looking at him with anger and next to his friends stood Officer Jenny.

"What is wrong with you guys?" asked Ash, who started to freak out, too.

"Ash don't play your mind games with us!" yelled May. "Lance was found in the forest nearby, half-dead."

"He woke up while we were transporting him to the Pokemon Center." continued Officer Jenny "And he managed to tell me that _Ash Ketchum_ attacked him while he was making his way back home"

"Hey it wasn't me! You can ask Nurse Joy if you want, I was in the Pokemon Center all the time!" Ash tried to defend himself.

"I have already been talking to her, while you were on your way back here. She said that you came with your Pikachu, who was hurt, but you never told her what happened. Besides, Lance got assaulted before you even showed up in the Pokemon Center" explained Officer Jenny.

And it took Ash couple of seconds to realize what happened- Lance tried to kill Ash, because he knew that Pikachu would save him. He nearly killed Ash's first pokemon, to make sure, that Ash runs into the Pokemon Center, late. Meanwhile Lance assaulted himself and managed to tell everyone that he got assaulted by Ash Ketchum. The raven haired boy also realized, that he was in a very poor situation.

"Don't play dumb with us Ketchum. You assaulted Lance, because you knew you'd lose since you have always been a weakling. But your Pikachu got hurt during the murder attempt, so you left Lance half-dead and brought Pikachu to the Pokemon Center. Am I right?!" exclaimed Gary Oak.

"Really Gary? So that's what you thought of me every time you supported me? You're not a friend, you're a traitor. And you guys, you know I would not do such a thing, right?"

"Ash don't deny it. You have no alibi. You aren't going to convince us"

"I would expect anyone to say that but you? Brock? Man you were like a older brother to me, you know me better than anyone" Ash started losing hope for someone to take his side.

"And that's exactly why he accused you, young man" said Professor Oak coldly.

"I'm sorry to say that Ash, but you are under arrest for attempting to murder the Kanto Champion Lance" Officer Jenny said.

"May, Dawn, Misty? Tracey, Iris, Cilan?" Ash looked for someone to stand by his side. "Max? He finally asked" Max stayed behind his sister this whole time. Although Max considered himself smart, he couldn't understand what was happening. He finally decided to stand on his sister's side.

"Max, look at me! Do you think I would ever hurt anyone? And what about our battle, when I become Kanto Champion? Don't you want to fight with me anymore?" Ash tried to convince the youngest member of the whole group. He was Ash's last hope.

"Stay away from my brother, you assassin! He won't stand by your side!" yelled May.

"Catch him!" shouted Cilan. Everyone started running towards the raven haired boy, but during his talk, Ash made his way to the door. He quickly ran away from the hotel, into the forest. When he made sure, no one followed him, Ash fell on his knees and started crying. Everyone he trusted betrayed him. They all considered him weak, but they never said it loud. It was more painful than being squeezed by a Snorlax.

After a couple of minutes Ash found himself in a fog. He quickly got up and saw _him_. It was N with Anthea's Gothitelle. The Astral Body Pokemon created the fog and then teleported Ash and N into somewhere else. Everything the raven haired boy experienced today, exhausted him so much that he only managed to ask "And what about Pikachu?" before felling on the ground unconscious.

N quickly responded "Don't worry about him, he'll be fine. Anthea and Concordia went to find him" Then everything turned black…

* * *

"Come on Ash, let's get back to the hideout" said N, when he saw tears in Ash's eyes. ' _He still remebers that day_ ' N said to himself. And they teleported back to the White Forest.

"N, may I ask you a very personal question?"

"Sure Ash, what's on your mind?" said N

"How did you know, that Lance framed me that day? That I was the victim of this scam?" N frowned. That was the question he wanted to avoid, because he didn't know how will Ash react to the answer.

"Listen carefuly Ash. Promise me you'll not kill me after you hear the answer, ok?"

"Okay" said Ash, unsure what was he going to hear.

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _After the battle got postponed_

N wanted to hide form the rain, in the forest. Luckily, a group of friendly Pidgey's guided him to a small den, located in the middle of the forest ' _I wonder if Ash even remembers me?_ ' he asked himself. ' _It's been over a year since our paths diverged_ '. N risked a lot, to see his old friend Ash. After all, the green haired man was the only person on the planet who was able to summon Reshiram, Zekrom and Kyurem- the Tao Trio. If someone managed to kidnap him, it would also mean that sooner or later he would gain the power of The Tao Trio, for his personal desires.

After a quick nap, N woke up. It was still raining. But N was determined to find Ash. He came out of the den and made a few steps, to realize that Ash Ketchum, the same cheerful kid that he met a long time ago, was lying on a meadow nearby, crying. N quickly decided hid in a bush and analyze the situation.

' _I don't know why I'm crying Pikachu. We are still able to win this battle, that's for sure, but it seems like every time we fight, every time we are close to achieving goals, something doesn't want us to win. It's so frustrating Pikachu!_ _'_

 _'Oh my Arceus, what's gotten into Ash?_ ' thought N. He wanted to get up, but he heard another voice and this time it wasn't the raven haired trainer.

' _Dragonite, use Hyper Beam on this bastard Ketchum!'_ It was Lance. N saw Pikachu defending his trainer and Lance flying away, he wanted to help Ash, but then he thought to himself ' _No, I'll follow Lance. Ash can handle himself'_ And he started chasing Lance. For the first 10 minutes it was a exhausting for him, since Dragonite was flying rapidly and N wasn't the greatest runner. Then he got help from a Fearow. He chased the Kanto Champion for a several minutes like that, but suddenly, Fearow got taken down, by someone or something. It was so quick, that N couldn't see what was it. A pokemon or a person? It wasn't Lance, since he had no idea of N following him. Than who was it? No one knew.

N along with the Fearow felt down into the forest. Luckily they weren't flying too high, so they didn't hurt themselves that much. Now N knew, that Lance wasn't working alone. Someone or something helped Lance, so it would mean that he had a partner, who got rid of N.

N managed to stand up, but Fearow's wing was broken. It could not fly away. So he 'called' for Anthea and Concordia for help. The fog enveloped them and N's sisters appeared along with their pokemon- Gothitelle and Gardevoir. They all grabbed Fearow and they wanted to go back to their hideout, but someone interrupted them. They saw Ash Ketchum, crying in the distance.

N reacted quickly "Anthea, Concordia, Gardevoir- take Fearow to the hideout and look for Ash's Pikachu. He got hurted badly, maybe Ash took him to the local Pokemon Center. Gothitelle and I will take Ash with us."

Anthea and Concordia exchanged glances and took Fearow with them, while N and Gothitelle started running towards Ash.

N grabbed Ash, who was nearly unconscious and started walking back. He looked down to see Ash's face. The raven haired boy asked "And what about Pikachu?"

N quickly responded "Don't worry about him, he'll be fine. Anthea and Concordia went to find him"

* * *

"And you already know the rest" finished N.

"Wow! N why didn't you ever tell me that?" asked politely Ash.

"Because I was a little bit unsure if you could handle the truth, that I didn't help you and Pikachu. I'm sorry, I was wrong."

"That's ok, I'm happy that you answered my question." Ash continued "Now let's find Bulbasaur, he'll call all my Pokemon"

* * *

 _ **So, that's the end of this chapter. Even if I managed to finish this one early, don't expect me to post every week. I'll try my best to make a chapter every 2-3 weeks, but the school is killing me right now, so I don't get a lot of free time, even on the weekends. It also depends on my creativity, too. I sometimes feel that I could make a whole chapter in one evening, like I did on Friday. And sometimes I am not able to write anything. So, my "minimum" would be 1 episode a month, but I hope it would be more frequent.**_

 _ **I also thank you for the positive feedback on the last chapter. It really helped me to make another one.**_

 _ **That's all for today. If you have any questions, comments on my work, be sure to tell me!**_ _ **See you in the next chapter!**_


	3. The beginning is always the hardest part

_**I'm back with the third chapter! Yay! I know it's been a while, but I've been moving out recently and I had to take care of some other stuff, too! As always, everything is underneath the chapter, because I know it's annoying when the chapter starts with a whole lot of information. So let's begin!**_

 _ **Note: Reuploaded**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon (I have no idea how to make this quote funny. It just has to be done)**_

* * *

 _Somewhere in White Forest_

Ash and N were strolling through the forest, looking for the trainer's Bulbasaur.

"So…" started N "Are you planning on bringing Bulbasaur with you?"

"Nah, after I lost in the Indigo Plateau Bulbasaur lost the interest in battling. He also settled here, most likely looking for a mate or something"

"Wow, I never thought that a young Pokemon like Bulbasaur would do that. Did something happen between you two, so he left you?" asked curious N.

"Well, he was always more mature and wise than every Pokemon I had. He kept everybody else safe and every pokemon respected him. That's why I'm looking for him, since he is the only one who can bring all of my pokemon into one place" Ash finished the sentence.

They found themselves in small meadow, in the most hidden part of the White Forest. And in the center of it, there was a tree stump, where a pokemon was napping.

"Hey Bulbasaur, I knew I'd find you somewhere here. It's nice to see you again, buddy" Ash greeted his Seed Pokemon.

N was confused. At first he did not recognize Bulbasaur, he thought that it was a bush for a second, but quickly he realized that it was indeed Bulbasaur. It sure grew a lot, but still didn't evolve into Ivysaur. It's skin got a little bit darker, too. That's why he got mistaken. So N greeted the Seed Pokemon as well and then something growled behind the stump. When Ash and N looked there, they saw a female Bulbasaur and three little white and green eggs. They were Bulbasaur's eggs.

"Wow, you finally found a mate Bulbasaur, congratulations!" said happily Ash.

" _Bulba Bulbasaur_ (If you visited me more often, you would know that we are a couple for over a year now)" said languorous Bulbasaur.

Both men smiled. "I'm sorry buddy, but I had to think everything through" answered Ash.

" _Bulbasaur_ (It took you a while, I must say)" Ash's Pokemon replied.

Their conversation then changed into more melancholic and deplorable one. "You're right Bulbasaur, I was blind, I blamed everything and everyone, but I didn't see that it was my fault as well. Every day I blame myself for not coming backright after I felt better. I should have proved everyone wrong. If I did, I would retain my family and friends. I am famous now, like I always dreamed about, but more of a cold hearted criminal, not a Pokemon Master." Ash stopped talking for a second then jumped straight back to his monologue. "I was not brave enough. I hid for over three years now. And now I am indeed a complete failure. A shadow of the old Ash Ketchum."

"Ash stop thinking about what you have done in the past. Focus on your future. For example, the tournament starts in two weeks and you should probably start preparing as fast as you can since you most likely got a bit rusty in battling" his green haired companion interrupted. Their conversation then changed into more melancholic and deplorable one, so N tried to cut it, by changing the topic.

The blonde haired trainer nodded "Look, we wanted to…" he tried to ask Bulbasaur for a favor, but then he saw N with a 'don't bring me into this' face expression. Ash quickly corrected himself saying " _I_ want you to do me a favor. Last one, you'll ever hear from me. Use your Solar Beam to tell everyone I am waiting here for them, is that ok? And I won't bother you anymore I swear"

" _Bulbasaur saur_ (Ash, you're so predictable…)" said Bulbasaur. Then the Seed Pokemon executed the order of his now, ex-trainer and used his Solar Beam.

The Solar Beam quickly spread above the White Forest. It was bright enough to inform all of Ash's Pokemon about the meeting. However, they were all shocked for sure. It's been three years since they last saw the signature Solar Beam. So why did Bulbasaur invite everyone? There was only one good explanation. Ash was back in the game…

 _Meanwhile, Castelia City_

"Cilaaaaaaan!" yelled Iris as she hugged his friend, when the gang finally arrived to Unova.

…Blehueghe…" Cilan said barely breathing.

"Iris you're going to strangle Cilan if you keep hugging him like that" said May, as the whole gang started laughing very loud. The Purple haired trainer released the pokemon connoisseur straight away, so he could breathe. Iris was now red from the embarassment. "Sorry" she mumbled.

"It's nothing really Iris, I really appreciate your _warm welcome_ " Cilan finally managed to say something. "Hi everybody, it's great to see you all again" said the green haired man to the rest of his friends. They all shaked hand or hugged Cilan (but this time with less power than Iris did) and when they did, they all went to eat some Castelia Cones in the nearest restaurant.

"Cilan tell us, what were you doing here in Unova earlier?" asked Stephan.

"Oh, you know, some basic Gym Leader stuff. Fighting trainers in Striaton Gym, doing some research about the upcoming tournament, paying Cress's and Chili's debts etc." replied Cilan.

"Oh, that's… Wait a second! Did you just say _research_?" asked surprised Dawn

"Oh yes, I'm afraid I forgot to mention. Since I am a Gym Leader in Unova, I got some pretty interesting info about the event!"

"Oh really?" asked Gary. "So what can you tell us?"

"Well, I shouldn't give any information at all, but since you are my friends, I'll make an exception" said cocky Cilan.

"Then we're all ears, Mr. Important Guy" said Brock sarcastically.

"Ok, so I got a nearly full list of our opponents. There are still few people who didn't reply on the invitation and few that got invited as a backup, because some of the trainers couldn't make it. So, I can assure you that we'll meet some of our old rivals and friends…"

"Oh, oh! Who is it? Who is it?" asked pumped Max.

"I was going to tell you what I've found, but you…"

"Just tell us already!" Cilan got interrupted again by Misty this time, but since everybody wanted to hear the exact names, he gave up on a dramatic introduction.

"The first one is Trip for sure"

"You mean the „pretending to be cool" guy that battled in the latest Unova League?" asked Drew

"Yes, him… The next one is a guy called Ritchie from Kanto. I believe you told me about a friend whose name was Ritchie once" said Cilan to Gary, Brock, Misty, since they really told the gang about Ritchie someday.

"Well… Let's say that he isn't our friend anymore…" said distressed Brock

"And why is that?" asked surprised Dawn

"Yeah… he kinda broke off the contact with us, when there was a situation with _you know who_ " finished Misty. She wanted to avoid the name Ash, because of May and Dawn who were always _sensitive_ on this topic

"Ok, so he's more like a rival to us now. Who's next?" May also wanted to avoid the topic of Ash.

"Well, we also have our great friend Bianca!" exclaimed Cilan

"That's great, I wonder how is she! And Professor Junpier of course!" replied Iris

"Who is Bianca?" asked everyone except the Unova inhabitants.

"She is a girl from Unova that we met during our journey with As..." Cilan bit his tongue. He knew no one should ever mention Ash's name again. But the truth was brutal. They couldn't just forget him. He created 'the gang' in the first place. They all met themselves because of Ash. Even though he died (Did he really?) someone always had to accidentally mention him.

"Yeeeah… Do you know something more Cilan?" asked Gary. He didn't want the conversation to be another one of those unpleasant talks about Ash.

"I was waiting for you to ask" Cilan smirked "The PLA added a few more rules especially for this tournament. The first and only important one in my opinion- you must register six pokemon to this tournament. No more, no less. It's important because you must use those 6 and only them afterwards, unless one of your Pokemon will be unable to fight later in the tournament, due to some injuries or sickness"

"Wow, it seems like they added that rule on purpose. Do you think that it will be so tough that our Pokemon won't keep up the pace of the event?" asked terrified May.

"May, don't even try to think like that!" Drew stopped her "Remember that we are and we will always be the most cool and powerful trainers in the whole Pokeverse!"

May looked at her crush and blushed. So did Drew "You're right Drew! Winning runs in Maple's blood! Isn't that right Max?" she asked her brother.

"Sure sis, you're obviously telling the truth" Max faked a smile. He still did not recover from their last argument. But he wanted to avoid arguing again, because May threatened him. She told him that if he won't behave well, she will send him back to Hoenn immediately.

"According to me, this tournament will be over my current taste… Man, if Burgundy was here, she would kill me for using the "connoisseur language" Cilan joked.

 _Back to Ash, somewhere in White Forest_

When all of Ash's Pokemon gathered together, Ash stared at them, nearly crying. He was happy and proud, seeing all of them in a great state. After all, he raised most of them from the very beginning of their lives. And now, when he disappeared for those three years, they were able to handle themselves properly. ' _It could be their skin colour, size or even gestures, that doesn't matter. They all grown very well. At least I can say that those three years in the wild, made them more fortitude'_

All of the pokemon stared at Ash, just like he did. Ash quickly looked at N, who was standing next to him, giving the trainer thumbs up and quietly wishing good luck. The blonde haired man took a deep breath and started his 'great talk'.

"So friends… I think that most of you know what am I going to say, so I'm going to make it quick. I got invited to the biggest tournament of all time, and I am going to participate. Of course as long as you come with me" As Ash finished the sentence, the majority of the pokemon lost the interest. They didn't want to fight anymore. Maybe, it happened because of the laziness that they got during those three years, since there was no one to look after them? Maybe it was the fear, of getting beaten down again? Or maybe it was something else that made them reject his offer? Ash did not know. So he just continued, he wanted to start preparing as fast as he could. "I know that most of you don't want to work together with me anymore and I respect your decision. You are free to leave now" However, to Ash's surprise, no one left. ' _Even though they don't want to fight, they still respect me and they want to stay here until I leave_ ' The young trainer was moved by the respect of his pokemon. A little tear of proudness showed up in Ash's eye and flowed onto his cheek, but he quickly wiped it away. "There is also a rule in the tournament," he continued "that you can use only six pokemon, so I need six of you to come with me. The rest can stay here and I won't bother you anymore. If any of you is interested, please take a step forward…" Ash didn't even get a chance to finish the sentence. One of his latest friends, Krookodile showed up.

"Krookodile, are you sure you want to come with me?" asked Ash

" _Krooko Krookodile_ (Ash, I didn't follow you through the half of Unova to laze around the forest. I need some action)" finished the Intimidation Pokémon.

"Thanks Krookodile, I really appreciate that" replied Ash. Then Charizard landed next to his trainer.

" _Charizaaard!_ (You aren't going to win without me, so I'll help you a little bit)"

"Charizard, charming as always" said teasingly Ash.

After he finished talking to the Flame Pokemon, Buizel appeared in front of the trainer. And so did Staraptor, Sceptile.

'Buizel, are you coming too?'

" _Bui Bui_ (If the big lizard jackass is coming, then so am I)" the Sea Weasel Pokemon answered.

"Charizard, I think I got you a new _sparring partner_ " joked Ash. Charizard replied with a single flame. Then, Ash turned to Staraptor and Sceptile.

" _Sceptile tile!_ (I got your back Ash!)", " _Staraaaptor!_ (You can count on me Ash!)" said the Forest Pokemon and Predator Pokemon together. And they were five. Ash only needed one Pokemon to complete his Pokemon party.

"Anyone else?" said Ash, who started to lose hope of completing his party. No one moved for a couple of seconds. Suddenly Gible, who seemed a little bit unsure of what was he doing, came out of the crowd.

"You are sure you want to travel with us, Gible?"

" _Gible Gible Gib Gible_ (Well, the truth is, I am still a weak Pokemon and I want to become stronger)" finished the Land Shark Pokemon.

"Ok, so for the rest of you I'd recommend leaving before I change my mind and take you all by force" Ash demanded coldly. As he expected, the rest of his Pokemon just ran off in fear of being tossed in a pokeball again.

"Ash, why did you threatened them. You would never do that to your Pokemon. Am I right?" asked N

"No, I would never do that, but I wanted them to leave as soon as possible" replied the blond haired man. Then he turned to his remaining Pokemon and said "Look, I know it's been a long time, since we had a last training session and you haven't battled properly in a long time, so we'll have to train three times harder than we ever did. Also, I know you'll hate sitting in your pokeballs again, so I'm going to call you as soon as I can, ok? Do you trust me?"

"(We trust you Ash!)" yelled his Pokemon together. Ash smiled as he collected all 6 pokeballs and put them into the inner pocket of his hoodie.

"So, Ash what are you going to do now? Go training with your Pokemon or arrive earlier to the Vertress City?" N asked his friend.

"Neither of them. To be honest, I want to pay a visit to Pikachu first"

 _Meanwhile, unknown location_

A man with red spiked hair and a medieval-looking blue tunic walked through the hallway of a place, similar to a military base. After a while, he stepped inside a door which said 'Headquaters'. Inside the room there were a bunch of people, a group of scientists working in their computer stands and two brawny, muscular guards blocking the enormous silver door.

As the mysterious man stepped in, all the scientists laid their eyes on him. But he didn't even bother looking at them. All they got from him was cold "Please continue your work". His voice was low and hoarsed. It wasn't even a bit similar to the voice that he had three years ago. As the scientists got back to what they have been doing, he walked to the guards and asked "Is _he_ in there?" The two guards only nooded and let him pass. The door slowly opened. Inside was a room with a lot of screens, displays and timetables as well as a huge leather seat turned to those displays. There was also a person who was checking the screens, but when he heard someone stepping inside, he turned back.

"Ah, _Lance_ , you finally arrived, come in, come in"

* * *

 **Aaaand that's the end. I apologize if you found this chapter a little boring, but I have to get over the "obvious" stuff in the first place. I know there are a lot of writers who update their stories once a week, twice a week or even every day, but as I said in the first chapter, this is my first ever story and I don't want it to be wearisome.**

 **First of all, I wanted to thank you for the positive and negative feedback! It helped me fill some of the empty blanks in my future chapters!**

 **I also got a lot opinions about the shipping. Some of you liked the idea of Pearlshipping and some of you didn't. There were also people who wanted me to pair Ash with other characters or even make it a harem! So I'll have to think it over once again as I want to satisfy everybody or at least the majority of readers. So once again I want you to tell me what's your opinion about the shipping. I'll decide in the next chapter or the one after!**

 **Additionally, I wanted you to tell me which characters would you like me to add or remove? I can also consider adding OC's if you would like me to!**

 **And now I wanted to answer some of your question that you asked me lately:**

 _Will there be legends in this story?_

 **I can assure you that you'll see some legends later. I just don't want them to be minor characters. So I'll probably introduce them later, when something big happens.**

 _The PLA refuses to clear Ash's name under the fact that they don't want to admit they made a mistake will Ash slam them as well for that?_

 **If I'd tell you the whole plot right now, there would be no point in continuing this story :)**

 _Will you have Ash change his name?_

I **know that Ash changing name is a bit overused, but if you read the first chapter carefully, you'd find out that he's not going to hide his true identity forever.**

 _Is Ash an aura user?_ ( I'm sorry I changed your question a little bit, I wanted it to be more specific)

 **I'm not going to mention aura in this story for two reasons:**

 **1) Aura is overused in the betrayal stories and usually is mentioned once or twice, so I don't want to make the same mistake.**

 **2) I'm planning on making another story which would focus only on Ash and aura. But you're going to see it after I finish Rising To The Top, mainly because I want to focus on my main story (which you're reading right now) first. In the meantime I'm not going to start another long story, but I'll consider some One-shots or Two-shots.**

 **See you in the next chapter!**


	4. Not everything can be forgotten

**It's finally here! The fourth chapter! I know it's been a while since I made one of these, but I'm not going to complain or feel sorry for not updating. Life is life and sometimes you just can't do everything at once. You know the drill, everything is underneath the story and now let's focus on the chapter!**

 **Note: Reuploaded**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon!**

* * *

 _With the gang, on their way to Vertress City_

"Max don't get left behind!" shouted his sister, May. She was in a great mood- travelling through region that she never visited before, hanging out with friends and most important of all, preparing for Pokemon Master Tournament. The only thing that did not go her way was her brother Max. He wasn't paying attention to anything, he was always at the back of the group, not talking to anyone or even training with his pokemon. However, she did not know that she made Max feel like that. She told herself that he has problems with growing up and did not pay attention to her brother anymore.

"Man, his depression is making me sick" said Gary

"Yeah, he needs a man talk. Maybe I should go talk to him" said Brock. As always, he was the most responsible of all the people in the gang. Brock walked to Max. He gesticulated something, then whispered into Max's ear and then pointed towards the group. Max looked up at his friends. For a second they felt like Brock finally managed to help him, but Max quickly held his head down and started trailing behind them again. Brock turned to the gang and waved his head in disbelief.

"Anyone else wants to try?" asked Gary sadly.

"Actually, I have a really good plan" Stephan proudly answered.

"Go on then". Stephan quickly walked up to Max, while the rest of the group continued walking. "Hey Max what's the matter man?"

"Nothing" Max mumbled

"Come on, get it off your chest" he smiled, but Max only sighed.

"It's because of Ash, isn't it?" Stephan asked.

"How could you possibly know? Are you a psychic or something?" it shocked Max. He thought no one was going to understand him.

"Hey, you're not the only one who misses him. Although most of them won't admit that. They are all trying to forget about him, that's all" he smiled

"The thing is… I don't want to forget Ash" Max's answer really surprised Stephan, but surprised in a positive way "During our travels, he showed me a lot of things about this world, which I would probably never discover by myself. He was like a mentor to me. Even my sister May found her calling because of Ash. It just pisses me of that he died and they are not taking responsibility for what they have done and they aren't thankful for his impact on them"

"Max, I may sound weird, but I have the same feeling as you. Ash helped me become stronger. Our rivalry helped us both. Those times with Ash were I think the most incredible times of my life. And most of them think like that too, but they are scared of the truth. So use my advice and try to ignore them. Focus on what Ash would want you to do?

"He would want me to train hard for the upcoming tournament" admitted Max who seemed like regained his confidence 'Thanks Stephan you really helped me" he smiled.

"Every time man, every time" Stephan smiled back. They both quickly caught up with the rest of the gang.

"Stephan what did you do to my brother?" whispered cheerfully May to his ear after a while

"Brock was right, Max needed a man talk" he smiled.

"So, who's hungry?' asked Gary. Everyone, even Max now, nooded in agreement. Cilan looked at Brock.

"I demand a cooking contest!" shouted Cilan, while pointing at his cooking rival.

"Yaaaay!" everyone happily said. Everytime Brock and Cilan were having a cooking contest, they were making the most delicious meals possible.

"Let's give it a try then" Brock replied also smiling.

 _With Ash in the White Forest_

They finally made it to the hideout. It was an average, old cottage located in the hidden part of the White Forest. As Ash and N stepped in, five familiar faces welcomed the two friends. It was of course Anthea with her precious Gothitelle and Concordia with her powerful Gardevoir. The last one was an Audino who helped to heal the injured Pokemon since N along with his sisters moved in.

"Ash, N!" Anthea and Concordia threw themselves into the boys' arms.

"Yeah, it's great to see you too" said Ash and N together a little bit surprised by the girls' reaction. After a warm welcome they all sat in the living room (An: It's their home, ok? So it is supposed to be like a house). Gothitelle made tea for everyone and they started to talk

"So, Ash I heard that you are planning on participating in the Pokemon Master Tournament" said Concordia

"W-wait where d-did you hear that?" replied surprised Ash

"Don't freak out, our little friend- Pidove told us" answered Anthea

"Don't blame him, we're just trying to keep his identity as a secret" N told his sisters

"Oh, I see, so it seems like we have to make an oath sister, since we don't want these two young men to have a heart attack" Both Anthea and Concordia giggled.

"You aren't taking this seriously, are you?" asked N sarcastically. They all waited for Ash to say something when they noticed, that he's been quiet for some time.

"You want to see him, don't you?" asked Concordia seriously.

"If it isn't a problem for you" Ash mumbled.

"Not at all Ash, not at all…" replied sadly Anthea. Ash thought a lot about Pikachu, since he made a decision to travel again. He also realized that it was going to be his first ever journey without his little yellow mouse, maybe except that time when Team Rocket captured Pikachu in Sinnoh and Dawn found him.

After a short walk, Anthea stopped in front of one of the doors in the corridor.

"Come in, I won't disturb you two" said Anthea.

"Thanks… I guess" said Ash sadly.

When he entered the room, he saw a big bed near in front of him and on the bed there was Pikachu sleeping peacefully. He hasn't woken up since he saved Ash from the Dragonite's Hyper Beam. Ash brought a small wooden chair with him and sat on it right next to his first ever pokemon. He looked around. The room was little, but cozy. It had one big window with a nice view of the forest. It also had a fireplace, but it was not used since Ash moved away. Yes, it was Ash's room he received straight after N brought him here. He used to spend a lot of time in this room, by the fireplace wondering about his past and future. Then after Ash recovered, Anthea and Concordia brought a second bed to Ash's place, which on Pikachu slept. Ash remembered when he always told his pokemon stories before he was going to sleep. He wasn't enjoying it at all, but he felt like it had to be done. Every time Ash woke up, he looked at his yellow mouse to see if he finally woke up, but the blonde haired trainer was never able to see that. Pikachu has been sleeping for three years. But Ash did not lose hope. Even now he wondered how to wake his pokemon up. So he started talking to him, just like he has been doing for the past few years.

"You know Pikachu, it will be my first ever journey without you. If you ever wake up…" Ash started crying, he couldn't imagine Pikachu dying so he didn't want to talk about his possible death. "When you wake up, just tell Anthea or Concordia or N to bring you to me. I will always be waiting for you to rejoin me and the rest of the family"

"As for now I want you to know that I'm going to get a revenge on everyone that made us suffer" In Ash's mind the faces of all betrayers started flashing up. ' _Misty, Brock, Gary, Professor Oak, Max, May, Dawn, Iris and even Cilan. They all just left me like I was nothing'_ thought Ash _'But the most important of all…'_ Lance appeared in Ash's mind ' _I'm not going to hesitate killing you Lance! You won't probably suffer as much as I did, but believe me, you'll get what you deserve'_ Ash's thought started to be darker and darker. Gardevoir sensed it and called Concordia. She stepped into the room

'Ash, please, stop thinking like that. Remember, it's not just revenge, it's also your return to reality. Do you really want to become a murderer, just like everyone thinks right now?'

'You're right Concordia. Please, forgive me. Everything I want is Pikachu to come back' he hugged her. It wasn't the first time for him to cry in front of Concordia, Anthea or N. His feelings were very unstable and his friends knew it. They were taking care of him for so long…

* * *

 _Flashback_

" _Ash please, open the door!" yelled Anthea as she reached his room._

"…" _no one responded_

" _Ash are you even in the room? Just give me a sign that you're still alive there!"_

 _Knock, Knock... she only heard him knocking twice from the inside, which was kinda hilarious, since she was the one that usually had to knock on Ash's door. The pink haired girl smiled. It was the first time he made a joke since the incident. It wasn't the best joke ever, but that little knock made her feel that he was getting better._

" _You'll have to open the Arceus damn door someday, you know"_

"…" _again no answer_

" _Okay, if you don't want to see me, I'll just leave the dinner in front of the door and you'll get it whenever you feel hungry. Is that ok with you?"_

 _Ash didn't say anything, but she knew he'll pick it up eventually, even though he was broken, he had to eat. So she just went downstairs, to help Concordia in the garden._

* * *

 _Flashback_

" _Pikachu, I sometimes wonder if there are more cool regions than these ones we've been in. Kanto, Jotho, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova. They bring up such great memories…"_

" _We can't let him live like that guys"_ _said Concordia to her siblings. They were all peeking at Ash through a small hole in the door_

" _I know, but have you got any other ideas? We tried everything to encourage him. We even brought Pikachu with all the medicaments to his room! Is there another way? The only thing he want to do is talk to Pikachu" replied Anthea._

" _Sisters, I think you're missing something very important. Ash isn't broken anymore. He just don't want to let Pikachu go. So he tries to spend as much time as he can with his friend. You would do the same, am I right?" N answered. He was right, as always._

" _If there was any way we could wake him up…" said sadly Anthea._

" _Let's leave it to Arceus. If we do, Pikachu's fate would be in good hands" N smiled. He didn't want his sisters to break down. And he didn't want to break down himself either._

* * *

"Ash!" shouted Concordia

"Sorry, I zoned out for a minute"

"You're still hugging me" she repeated with annoyance

"Oh… sorry again" Ash moved away

"You don't have to be sorry for that. You needed it" she gave him a smile

"I think you're right" he scratched his back, in the way he did back in the glory days. All his friends noticed it and winked to each other.

They stayed in silence for a minute or two. Then Anthea poked N.

"Oh, right Ash, I think we should better go now Ash" said N while giving a beige rucksack to the blonde haired trainer.

"That's right, I have a lot of training to do" Ash smirked and clenched his fists while looking at his six pokeballs in the inner pocket of his hoodie.

"Take care of yourselves boys!" shouted Anthea as she and Concordia watched the two figures disappearing in the distance.

"We will, so don't worry" Ash waved to them. Then he fastened his hoodie and took off his hat along with his amulet with a Mega Stone in it.

"Why are you taking your amulet off, now?" asked his friend.

"Well, I certainly don't want to bring attention with it" he proudly exclaimed "and I also don't know how to use it so it's still a little bit useless, although it makes a great jewelery" N facepalmed while Ash was red of the embarrassment by the fact that he didn't know anything about his 'lucky charm'.

"But you know something about it, don't you?" N continued to ask questions

"Only that it might help me sometime… And I also have to get another one precisely like this one" N facepalmed for the second time, when Ash finished his sentence.

"You know the chances of you finding the exact same stone, right?" asked N unsure about Ash's knowledge about his amulet.

"Hope dies last" Ash replied laughing

"At least we're in a great mood" N smiled. They walked in the sunset for a while when they reached the end of the forest. There was a sign there with two arrows. They showed different directions of places that you could go to.

Ash took his pokedex out, dusted it off a bit, since it wasn't used in three years and started examining the map of Unova.

"Well, we have to go right to reach Vertress City"

"I think it would be better if we go the other way" interrupted N, who obviously had other plans.

"Why?" asked Ash after seconds of weird silence.

"Well, first I would like to go… sort… some _things_ out… somewhere else". As Ash said earlier -in the first chapter, to be exact- N was not a good liar.

"Ok, where are we heading then?" asked Ash who obviously knew that N is hiding something.

"Virbank City" N coldly replied.

"Wait, what _things_ do you have to do in Virbank? I thought you weren't interested in black market and stuff?"

"Oh, is that so? Is little Ashy scared of Virbank City?" the green haired man teased Ash.

"N-no obviously not. I'm just c-curious what is going on there?" the blonde haired trainer changed his face expression immediately.

"And that is also the reason for me going there, my friend" answered smirking N

' _I guess I'll have to wait until we reach Virbank for N to tell me what's going on'_ Ash thought with a huge smile on his face, since he was finally resuming his adventure after the three years break…

* * *

 **Did you like this chapter? If you did, let me know in the reviews and if you didn't let me know, too!**

 **I also have a request for you. Since there will be a tournament in this story(it's coming soon, so don't worry) I'll need some OC's to fill the blanks. I won't be able to create that many OC's myself, so I thought you could help me with that! If you want your own character to be placed in this fanfic write to me in Private Message or Reviews! (although I prefer Private Messages) You need to include:**

 **Name: (surname isn't required, but write it down if you want to)**

 **Age: (you don't have to put the exact age , I just want to know if it is a kid or a teenager or a adult)**

 **Appearance: (it can be as precise as you want)**

 **Personality: (basic character traits for example- energetic, easily gets into trouble)**

 **Pokemon party: (I need exactly six. You can also write their attacks or personality fi you want)**

 **-I won't accept anything from Kalos region, since this story takes place before the X &Y series!-**

 **That's all I wanted to say, if you have any other questions, tell me and I'll answer them as soon as possible. See you in the next chapter!**


	5. What lurks in Virbank? Part 1

**That's right! I'm back! I know that the last chapter was published 3 weeks ago, but I have a lot of stuff going on in my life right now, and I can't devote that much time to writing. I promise that I'm going to publish another chapter in like a week or less to repay you the wait. Nevertheless, I am back with another entertaining chapter for you guys to read.**

 **As always, I wanna thanks you for all the reviews and follows on my story. Also, if you have ANY questions (connected with the story of course), please tell me and I will answer them really soon!**

 **Note: Reuploaded**

 **Disclaimer: You know the drill... I don't own Pokemon etc.**

* * *

It was a dark and foggy night in Virbank City. In a small alley between two usual brick tenements there was a person, covered by a black coat and a hood. As N and Ash turned into this alley, the figure started approaching them. Ash was a little bit scared of what was going on, since he wasn't feel safe as soon as he walked out of the forest that he lived in for such a long time.

N instead of being scared was very confident and calm. Ash looked at his friend and thought ' _If he isn't scared, it won't be that bad_ '. Their eyes soon met.

"I'm glad you made it" Ash was astonished. It was a female voice. The person inside looked like a murderer, so if it was a girl, she was very convincing.

"I'm glad to see you too, Roxie" N answered. The person removed her hood and coat. It was Roxie, the Virbank City Gym Leader. She looked exactly the same as she did, when Ash traveled through Unova. Her hair were still tied into a ponytail, but this time it was shorter. She wore her black boots along with a completely purple jumper and a blue jeans.

"How is my favourite green-head doing?" asked Roxie cheerfully. "And who the hell are you?" she asked while pointing at Ash.

At first he didn't know how to respond. He met her before, but he obviously couldn't tell her who he really was, since she could do something really stupid about it, like calling Officer Jenny etc. Luckily N helped him. "His name is Aiden and he is a good friend of mine. There's nothing to worry about, we can trust him"

"Oh I see, so you probably already know what are you signing for?"

"Actually no, I don't. N hasn't told me anything" Ash spoke for the first time in this conversation.

"Classic N. You can't even explain _it_ to your friend properly" Both Roxie and N smiled. They seemed like they knew themselves for a long time, but N have never told Ash about her. On the other hand, N hardly ever explains something to him.

"I wanted it to be a surprise" N replied smiling.

"Can you finally tell me what's going on?" Ash started to lose patience. He wanted to finish whatever N wanted him to do and focus on the training to the tournament.

"Have you ever been to Virbank before, Aiden?" asked Roxie.

Ash thought about the answer for a second. He couldn't say ' _yes'_ straight away, because she would start asking questions so he just simply shook his head, telling her that he haven't.

"Basically, I _was_ the Virbank City's Gym Leader. I ran a Music Club, which was also used as a Gym, since my dad installed a battlefield there. During that time, I got challenged by multiple trainers and only few of them have beaten me. I gained a lot of experience and confidence, since I was the toughest Gym Leader in Unova. Then, I made a decision of adding a new rule into my Gym. I could only use 3 Pokemon while the challenger could use up to 6 of them. But I still managed to win most of my battles. After a while, I started to get bore, because no one was able to give me a challenging battle. Suddenly a newcomer came to me and offered an interesting battle. he could only use one of his Pokemon and I could use 6 of my best Pokemon at the same time! I thought it was a joke, until he told me that if he wins, he would take the Gym away from me as well as my Gym Leader title and if I win, he would pay me 1,000,000 $ which he carried all this time with him in a case, so I would not think that he is lying. You have to know that by that time I planned a tour with my music band, so it was a great opportunity to gain money to pay for the whole tour.

As I said earlier, I was confident. I wasn't scared at all since I knew that it is impossible to win against 6 pokemon at once. So I accepted the deal"

* * *

 _Flashback_

" _Koffing, Scolipede, Garbodor, Toxicroak, Crobat, Nidoqueen let's rock!" shouted Roxie. She chose her 6 best Pokemon, all of them were part posion types, because she was the poison gym leader of course! She was feeling confident. The fans were as always screaming her name. She picked up her guitar and played a few chords._

 _The newcomer chose a pokeball and threw it in the air "Salamence, come out!" The Dragon Pokemon roared loudly as soon as it appeared. At this point, many of the viewers chickened out and ran out of the club. But Roxie was still focused. She couldn't let anybody see that she is afraid of battling against his Salamence. She would lose her reputation._

" _All right ref, kick it off!" she shouted._

" _Is the challenger ready?!" The strange guy simply nodded "Ok, let's begin then!"_

" _Ladies first" Roxie noticed a smirk on the man's face._

" _Garbodor use_ _ **Double Slap**_ _, Scolipede use_ _ **Rock Tomb**_ _, Koffing use_ _ **Will-O-Wisp**_ _, Toxicroak use_ _ **Poison Jab**_ _, Crobat use_ _ **Air Slash**_ _, Nidoqueen use_ _ **Body Slam**_ _" Roxie ordered to all of her Pokemon to attack at once._

" _That will be easy…Salamence… you know what to do…" mumbled the challenger. And with an eye blink, Salamence dodge all of the attacks and swung its tail. Koffing, Crobat and Toxicroak manager to dodge the huge tail, but Nidoqueen, Garbodor and Scolipede didn't. They were smashed into the nearest wall and knocked out._

" _Garbodor, Scolipede and Nidoqueen are unable to battle!" the referee yelled. Roxie was shocked. 'How did he manage to knock out three of my best pokemon only using_ _ **Dragon Tail**_ _?! That's impossible!' she asked herself._

" _Now, Crobat use_ _ **Supersonic**_ _! Try to confuse him. Toxicroak use_ _ **Poison Jab**_ _once again! Koffing use_ _ **Gyro Ball**_ _!" But even this time Salamence managed to dodge every single attack. Roxie looked at the stage. Only few people stayed in the Gym to support her. Everyone else ran away?_

" _Nice try, but you don't stand a chance in this battle!" the challenger finally spoke. "Salamence, let's show her what does a powerful attack mean, use_ _ **Dragon Rage**_ _!" And within seconds, Salamence knocked out Toxicroak and Crobat. Koffing managed to escape from the Dragon Rage's direct hit, but it hurt him anyway. Roxie looked up at her Poison Gas Pokemon. It didn't look well and she could not risk it's health anymore. She made a decision very quickly._

" _I surrender! My Koffing won't take any more damage tonight!"_

" _Smart move, I must say. But you know what you have agreed to, so can you please GET OUT OF MY GYM NOW!" and he laughed horribly. Roxie as well as the referee and few others ran away as fast as possible. Then she turned into the Pokemon Center._

"Oh _my Arceus, what's going on Roxie? Why are you in such a hurry? And why did everyone run away from the gym?" asked terrified Nurse Joy when she saw Roxie crying._

" _Audi-Audino?" asked her Audino, too._

" _Please Nurse Joy, there is no time to lose, you have to help my Pokemon first!' whispered Roxie._

" _Everything for my favorite Gym Leader" she smiled, trying to cheer her up._

" _Not anymore…" Roxie continued sobbing._

" _Oh, no! If it's that serious, than I have to call Officer Jenny" Nurse Joy turned around and walked into the operating room. Roxie couldn't stand waiting for the nurse to come back, so she started running towards the docks, which happened to be near the Pokemon Center. She fell onto her knees and cried even more. She lost everything she had. Was she really stupid enough to bet her whole life, in a Pokemon Battle? She was a failure. What was she going to do now? Catching Bug Pokemon in the forest? Working in the docks, fishing Magikarps? Then she heard the Police sirens. It was going to be a long night._

* * *

"That's horrible… Did your Pokemon recover from the fight? Did you manage to get your Gym back from… what was his name again?" Ash tried to comfort Roxie who broke down a little bit, when she finished her backstory.

"Fortunately, my Pokemon felt better the next morning. And he did not even introduced himself properly. If I only knew that he had such a powerful Pokemon…" Roxie replied.

"Come on, I could have happened to all of us. You couldn't possibly know about him. You were just trying to have fun, doing your job" Ash smiled, which caused Roxie to blush. ' _We have a lot in common. We both lost literally everything we had, except for our Pokemon. My Pikachu is still recovering after confronting Lance_ ' Ash thought. He still believed in Pikachu's awakening.

"Great, so are we ready to head out?" asked N, who was bored and wanted to finally get some action.

"Wait… I still don't know what we're doing here" Ash asked to Roxie and N.

"Look, not many people know, that after the gym got closed, by _him,_ he opened a underground illegal Battle Club, where you bet your Pokemon, in order to win your opponent's one" Roxie explained.

"And we're here to take it down'" N added clenching his fists.

"Shouldn't we call the police in the first place? It is a little bit risky if you ask me" Ash wasn't sure about their plan.

"No, this club is more than you think it is. During my travels, I encountered several places like that all over Unova. Apparently Roxie was not the only one to be deceived, by that organization and we came here to find out more about it"

"What organization?"

"Come on Aiden, don't be silly! There is no way that one man was able to open several underground battling club, and ran them successfully up to this day" Roxie responded.

"And why did you bring _me_ here in the first place? You look like you have everything planned already" asked Ash looking at N. They both knew that Ash's priority was to prepare for the tournament, so what was N thinking when he brought him here?

"Can you please stop asking questions? We're running out of time!" Roxie was getting more angry with every question Ash asked.

"Well, if you really wanna know, we have everything planned, except for one thing. You're going to bet your Pokemon and fight in the club while Roxie and I will search for clues. l thought it would be more effective than training to the tournament alone, in the woods." explained N.

"WHAT?! N are you crazy?!" yelled Ash

"Shhhhhh" Roxie shushed him "Someone might hear us" she whispered.

"Don't worry, my plan seems perfect" N replied with a weird smile on his face. Ash was getting more worried with every sentence of his. The N he knew, was a calm and peaceful person who traveled around the world, just helping Pokemon in trouble and giving advice to young trainers. But he started to discover the dark side of his green haired friend and it was not a nice experience.

"Seems like perfect? N, I love you like a brother, but man, this is truly crazy! I won't be used as a distraction and risk my Pokemon's ownership to shut down an illegal Pokemon Battle Club. Furthermore, I haven't battled in three long years! They'll probably annihilate me!" Ash tried to defend himself.

"Aiden, I believe in you! Just stay calm and keep dodging their attacks. We'll be back sooner than you imagine" said N as he opened the emergency door in the back alley, which lead to the battle club, by tons of stairs, deep under the city.

* * *

They all walked into the club. As always, the music was played loudly and a lot of the people inside were dancing to it, although Roxie's face expression showed that they weren't the greatest tracks. When Ash finished admiring the place, he looked at his friends- but they were far gone. So he repeated the plan to himself ' _Challenge someone to a battle, prolong the battle, distract everyone and wait for N's signal to run off_ ' Then he stepped into the battle area. There were tons of people cheering for the fighters. He couldn't see anything from the bottom floor, so he climbed a few steps on the supporters stand in order to see the battle.

On his right, there was a trainer, dressed in a black leather jacket and camouflage pants. He was also bald, just like a typical bad boy from a motorcycle gang. On the other side stood a young tall person, with Purple mid-long hair, who was wearing a dark blue and purple jacket, dark grey trousers and dark blue sneakers. Ash felt like he had seen him somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where. The answer came to him, when the announcer introduced the trainers with his hoarse voice.

 _On the Battlefield_

"On the left side, we have our club champion, unbeatable to this point, with 41 wins and 0 losses. Please welcome Paul!"

 _With Ash_

"Paul!" When Ash heard that name, he finally recalled the person. It was Paul, his rival from Sinnoh. The whole club started to yell Paul's name. _'It's not possible, is it?_ ' Ash looked terrified.

 _On the battlefield_

"On the right side we have Bob from the Scrafty gang!" the whole club got quiet. No one cheered for the other guy.

"Ok challenger has to choose the Pokemon first!" said the announcer who happened to be the referee, too.

"Ok Scrafty, let's win this battle" said Bob.

"Torterra, let's see what's Scrafty made of" Paul replied, but not exactly coldly like he always did back in Sinnoh. He seemed… more likeable?

"As always, the winner of the battle, keeps his own and his opponents Pokemon! Whoever manages to knock out the opponent's Pokemon first will be the winner!" the referee explained.

"Scrafty, **High Jump Kick**!" Bob shouted.

"Torterra, stand still!" Paul ordered. Scrafty kicked the Continent Pokemon, but Torterra stood still, undamaged. "Now Torterra, use **Leaf Storm** and finish him!" And even though Scrafty tried to dodge the attack, Torterra hit him. When the dust finally settled, Scrafty was lying on the ground, unconscious.

"Scrafty is unable to battle, which means that Paul wins for the 42 time in a row!"

"Scrafty, noooooo!" cried Bob, when he saw Scrafty being sucked into his Pokeball. He handed it to the Club's security staff and ran away into the crowd

 _On the Battlefield_

"Ref, I wanna head home earlier, so get me the last challenger and I'm outta here" The announcer/referee nodded in agreement

"All right, Paul wants another match! And it will be the last fight of the night!" Whole club exploded in cheers again. "So… is there anyone who wants to challenge our Champion?!" Everyone stood in silence, speechless, when someone in the upper section raised his hand and started walking down to the battlefield. "It seems like we've found the last challenger of the night!" obviously everyone continued cheering for Paul again, like they most likely always did.

 _With Ash_

He made his way down to the battlefield. And when he did, the referee asked him:

"So everyone, the last fight of the night! On the left side we have our Champion- Paul with 42 wins and 0…"

"We already know that" Paul interrupted. The announcer frowned and continued "On the other side we have the challenger…What's your name, challenger?"

"Aiden"

"The challenger- Aiden!" No one cheered for him, as Ash expected. Then the battle started.

"Do I have to get over the rules again?" The Ref asked. Both Ash and Paul shook their heads. "Great" he sighed "Let's Begin then!"

Ash threw his Pokeball into the air and shouted "Charizard I choose you!" he really missed that quote. The Flame Pokemon landed on the battlefield and roared. Ash could have picked someone else, but Charizard was his strongest Pokemon, and he couldn't risk the others to be beaten in a fight against Paul.

"Well then" Paul clapped his hands twice sarcastically "I guess I'm going to have a pretty strong-looking Charizard on my team soon" he smirked, while throwing his Pokeball into the air. His Pokemon landed onto the battlefield as well. When Ash saw his opponent's Pokemon his eyes widened with astonishment. He also took a step back.

"It couldn't be…" Ash's voice cracked. His first fight in three years and he was already battling against…

* * *

 **Hahaha... I love being the writer. It gives me the greatest power of all, cliffhangers!**

 **Viewers: Come on! When is the tournament going to start? (Don't deny it. I know you're thinking exactly like that)**

 **Me: Believe me, it's coming really soon. I just don't want this story to be short. I think more of it like a long-term project.**

 **Apparently I don't have any other news for you today, so I'm just going to remind you of reviewing and following my story!** **See you in the next chapter! (Is that even logically correct? Because it sounds a little bit ridiculous to me)**


	6. What lurks in Virbank? Part 2

**It's me - Jmtx100 - with the sixth chapter!**

 **Sadly, as the time goes, I get less and less reviews. When I started writing Rising To The Top, a lot of you wanted to share your opinion about my story. Now I rarely see any new comments on my story. So again, I wanted to remind you of reviewing it, because it gives me inspiration and encouragement to write more and more stuff. But enough about my writing abilities, let's see what is the sixth chapter hiding!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon!**

* * *

Ash threw his Pokeball into the air and shouted "Charizard I choose you!" he really missed that quote. The Flame Pokemon landed on the battlefield and roared. Ash could have picked someone else, but Charizard was his strongest Pokemon, and he couldn't risk the others to be beaten in a fight against Paul.

"Well then" Paul clapped his hands twice sarcastically "I guess I'm going to have a pretty strong-looking Charizard on my team soon" he smirked, while throwing his Pokeball into the air. His Pokemon landed onto the battlefield as well. When Ash saw his opponent's Pokemon his eyes widened with astonishment. He also took a step back.

"It couldn't be…" Ash's voice cracked. His first fight in three years and he was already battling against…

"Salamence!" the Dragon Pokemon roared so loudly that the whole hall started to shake.

"So it's a battle between Charizard and Salamence! Begin!" the referee waved his hand to signalize the start of the battle.

When Ash heard those words, his fear of battling striked again. He stood there, speechless, while his Charizard was waiting for his command.

"Right Salamence, if he doesn't want to attack first, than you can just knock him out already" Ash waisted enough time, to make Paul attack first. As he finished the sentence, his Pokemon charged onto Charizard quickly. The Flame Pokemon waited for Ash's command, but Ash was struck dumb. Salamence slammed Charizard into the nearest wall.

 _With N and Roxie_

They sneaked into the nearest 'staff only' door. It was locked, but Roxie brought out a huge keychain and opened it easily.

"I kept them, just in case a situation like that happens" she smiled.

"Nice thinking" N replied. They carefully opened the door and walked into a empty corridor. "Uffff… Fortunately there are no guards here. They're all probably watching Aiden's match" They walked through the corridor until the faced two doors. One of them happened to be the janitor's closet. So they laid their eyes onto the second door. But they didn't open it, because suddenly they heard two male voices talking, from that door.

N quickly pushed Roxie into the janitor's closet and jumped in right before the two voices entered the corridor. Roxie was about to say something, but N put his hand on her mouth to keep her quiet.

"Why do we always have to do the hardest job?" they overheard the two men talking.

"Stop complaining already! The battle has already started and I don't want to miss Paul fighting again…" When the voices walked away. N and Roxie slowly opened the janitor's closet and stepped into the second door.

 _Back with Ash_

"I thought you were supposed to give me a challenge" laughed Paul "You're pathetic, like every other trainer I've confronted before"

Ash was still standing speechless. He was afraid of battling so much, that he couldn't even come up with a command for his Pokemon. Confronting Paul reminded him of the day when he lost everything. The blonde haired trainer dropped his gaze and clenched his fists. _'Come on Ash, forget about the past. You're starting a completely new story. You can do it. It's just a stupid battle. You battled thousands of times before… Just keep calm and focus on the battle… nothing easier to do…'_ Ash sighed. He looked at Charizard, who was already breathing hard, he looked at Paul who was confident and focused, unlike Ash. And finally he looked at Salamence, that looked like it was going to kill Charizard, then Ash and then the whole club. Ash never saw that much fury in one body.

' _Right, if I want to win this battle, I have to come up with something, really quick. His Salamence is very strong and it can dodge the attacks easily, so I can't attack all the time. Charizard has to be precise and also watch out for possible counter-attacks._ ' Ash tried to think of some tactics before he made the first move. He took a deep breath and finally he yelled

"Charizard, use **Flamethrower** , quick!" It was a relief for him and his Pokemon. He finally overcame his fear of battling. However Charizard's attack did not mean that it was the end of Ash struggling in this battle. Even though he used it perfectly and Salamence took the hit, no damage was done to Paul's Dragon Type.

"Look, I don't think you understand, there is no way of you winning this battle" said Paul "My Salamence has never lost a battle before! He was born to win!"

"Can you shut up already, because your voice really annoys me" Ash responded "Charizard **Dragon Breath** let's go!" Charizard's attack hit Salamence, but once again The Dragon Pokemon seemed undamaged. "Salamence, **Dragon rush** \- full power!" Paul ordered.

"Charizard dodge it!" But Salamence's attack hit Ash's Pokemon. It caused Charizard to fall onto the ground. He wasn't knocked out, but he was not in the greatest condition. After all, he took two very strong attacks.

"Come on Charizard, I know you can do better than that! I belive in your strength!" Charizard barely got up. "Yes, that's the spirit!" Ash said.

 _With N and Roxie_

When they entered the room, they saw something terrible.

It was a huge room stuffed with boxes and cages. Inside there were a lot of Pokeballs and random Pokemon kept in cages. They all seemed exhausted.

"I can't belive they did something like that… that's inhuman!" N raged.

"N, keep quiet or else they're going to find us" Roxie replied.

"Right. I think it's time for us to call the cops, don't you think?" N asked his friend.

"Will Aiden have enough time to ran away?" Roxie wasn't sure about calling the police right now.

"Trust me. Aiden is a tough guy, he is going to make it. Even if he doesn't look like that" Then he turned to the Pokemon in cages.

"Everybody, calm down. You'll be free soon. No one will ever hurt you again" but they didn't trust N. It wasn't their fault, however. People kept them locked up here, so they don't trust anyone anymore.

' _The person who made them suffer will pay for that. No one has the right to treat Pokemon like that. We should be friends with them, not keep them as trophies.'_ N's thoughts were dark.

"Come on N, what are you waiting for?" asked Roxie who already took the next door, which lead to the "Office".

When they stepped in, they saw a big computer inside. Also there was a big window from which you could see the whole battlefield.

Roxie sighed "Well, that's the place where I used to chill out between my battles and concerts" she recalled those times, when she was the Virbank Gym Leader "It's been quite a while, don't you think?" she asked.

"Come on Roxie. You'll get your gym back, trust me" he hugged her, to avoid her crying. "But now we have to focus on our mission" N brought out a memory stick from his pocket and plugged it into the computer.

"I didn't know you were a hacker N" Roxie said

"I wasn't, until I got this thing" he said pointing at his memory stick "A friend of mine gave it to me. He said that it would do the job for me. I just have to wait until it'll break the firewall. Then I'll copy all the files and information that they are keeping here"

"Ok then, I'll tell Aiden to get out of here" said Roxie. She took a flashlight from the nearest shelf and started flashing it through the window in Ash's direction.

 _With Ash_

' _Now,_ _Ash! Try to think of something… If Salamence is a Dragon type, than he is also weak to dragon type moves! So my only chance of winning is Charizard directly hitting Salamence with dragon type attacks!_ ' Ash came up with a completely new strategy.

"Salamence knock him out with **Dragon tail**!" Paul yelled. Paul's pokemon flew across the whole battlefield to finish Charizard off. Charizard huffed and looked at Ash. The blone haired trainer winked to his pokemon.

"Wait… Wait… A little bit closer…Now Charizard catch Salamence's tail!" The Flame Pokemon managed to catch his opponent's tail "Now spin him!"

"What?!" Paul's pokemon got trapped.

"Throw him as far as you can and use **Dragon breath**!" Ash said. Everything went just like he has planned. The Dragon Pokemon was thrown through the battlefield and crushed into the ground. Before Salamence got up, it got hit with a very strong Dragon breath. For a while, to Ash's horror, Salamance was able to stand still, but seconds after he collapsed.

"Salamence is unable to battle, which means that Aiden wins! We have a new champion!" shouted the referee.

"Yes! You did a great job Charizard" Ash congratulated his Pokemon. Paul handed Salamence's Pokeball to Ash. The blonde haired trainer put into the inner pocket of his hoodie.

' _The last person that managed to beat me, was the Ketchum kid, but he died, didn't he? Although he looks quite familiar. I'll check it later. Now I have to get my Salamence back!'_ Paul fought inside his mind.

'I demand a rematch!' he finally spoke.

'Hey you can't have a rematch here, loser' ref reminded him. Paul was stunned. The ref/announcer (An: whose name isn't important so I just call him after his job) was always polite to Paul, since he became a champion of the club. And now, after Paul lost, he considered him a weak loser.

"Look, I already got your Salamence. Why should I battle you for the second time?" Ash tried to play dumb. But of course, he knew that Paul was a kind of person that would never give up, until he'd finally beat his opponent.

"Let's do double or nothing. If I win, I get my Salamence back. I don't care about that stupid title anyway" he looked at the referee and smirked. The announcer got red from anger, but he couldn't do anything since the champion was upon the rules.

"And if I win?" Ash asked.

"You'll get my second best Pokemon" Paul picked another one of his pokeballs and presented it to his opponent. "Electivire, stand for the battle!"

"I guess it makes sense. Ok, then. I'll choose another Pokemon to make it more interesting" Ash had no interest in keeping Paul's Pokemon, even if it was Paul's. Besides, he wouldn't hurt Salamence, by keeping him from his trainer. So he just threw another one of his Pokeballs in the air "Sceptile, I choose you!" he shouted.

Ash noticed something flashing in the background. It was Roxie who gave Ash sign with a flashlight. She was behind a big window in a room that looked like an office. He turned his head back to the battlefield "Oh, no there is no way I am turning back now. I enjoy it too much" he said to himself. He wanted to beat Paul again so much, that he forgot about the whole plan in a moment.

"Sceptile, let's embarrass this desperate guy!" Ash looked at the referee and waved his hand in order to make the referee star the battle.

"It's a rematch between Aiden - the current champion with 1 win and 0 losses and Paul - the challenger. Begin!" the referee waved his hand to signalize the start of the battle, again.

 _With Roxie and N_

"Come one Ash, we gotta go, now!" said Roxie as she kept giving Ash the sign with the flashlight.

"Did he leave?" N asked while unplugging his memory stick back.

"No. I already gave him the sign twice, but he is still in there battling. Why isn't he running away?" Roxie asked.

N frowned "This is bad, this is really bad… Why haven't I thought of that!" N started walking circles, trying to figure out a plan. Roxie also noticed him sweating.

"What's wrong N? Why are you so nervous all of a sudden?" she asked him.

"Roxie…" N stopped walking "Look into my eyes and promise me, that you won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, ok?" Roxie acted horrified. N became deadly serious. She shook her head in agreement.

"Aiden… Aiden is…" Roxie waited for N to finish the sentence, when SUDDENLY someone kicked the door and few policemen ran into the office.

"Are you N and Roxie who called the police?" asked one of the policemen.

"Yes, it's us" they said together.

"I'm Officer Jenson. Thanks for calling us. Now, follow me to the exit. It's not safe around here" he explained. N and Roxie looked at the battlefield for the last time. Ash/Aiden was still battling, even though he knew the plan. Even though he knew that they would call the police sooner or later. What was he thinking? Both of them followed the policeman, just like he told them to. They just wished Ash/Aiden got away before the cops arrested him.

 _With Ash_

"The cops are here!" someone in the club shouted. Everyone started to panic. Lots of people got onto the battlefield, so Ash and Paul called back their Pokemon.

Ash looked around. Most of the supporters were gone or were trying to get out. He looked back at the battlefield. Paul was gone, as well as the referee. Ash tried to run away as well, but he got rammed by running crowd. It caused him to hit the ground with a great force. He wanted to get up, but someone grabbed his arms and put handcuffs onto him. "Don't even think of getting up" said feminine voice, which Ash recalled as Officer Jenny "You're under arrest for being a part of this battle club thing"

* * *

 **Dum, dum, dum... Another major cliffhanger! What is going to happen to Aiden? Is the police going to find out who is he? And what is Paul hiding? You'll have to find out yourselves, in the next chapter!**

 **Now I feel like a TV channel now, after writing that quote about the next chapter.**

 **No, but seriously, comment my work, tell me what do you expect from this story etc. From now on, I'll rely on your ideas and reviews more! See you the next chapter! (I already got used to that sentence at the end, so don't hate me)**


	7. Revelations?

**Yes, I'm back! Sorry for the delay, but as I explained earlier in the announcement, I had exams and couldn't finish the chapter before. But now, I'm back.** **Without further ado, let's get to the story!**

 ****THERE ARE SOME MAJOR EXPLANATIONS UNDERNEATH THE CHAPTER SO READ IT ALL!****

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon... blah blah blah**

* * *

The night, which Ash spent in the police station was tough for him. Purely, because he didn't want to be exposed, by the policemen. They asked him questions about the Battle Club and even after his responses, they didn't believed him that Ash had nothing to do with it. To make it even worse, he was asked about his trainer license, his full name and his nationality, but Ash remained quiet. Finally, after the questions, he got placed in a cell.

Ash wanted to get some sleep, but he couldn't. He was stressed out that they'll expose him. What was he going to tell everyone? Hey, I'm Ash Ketchum who survived and I'm trying to find and kill Lance, in order to get my revenge? There was no hope for that. Ash looked outside. It was the sunrise already, so he didn't sleep for the whole night. He brought out the pokeball with Salamence inside it, which he won in a match against Paul. He stared at it for a while and something came onto his mind ' _If that's the Salamence Roxie confronted before and lost to it, than Paul must have been the person who took the gym from her! But why did he do that? I haven't seen him in like 5 years, but I know that getting stronger was the only thing that interested him. I have to find him, before he gets out of the town! But first, I have to get out of here…'_

Ash heard a key being turned in the lock of his cell. "You're free to leave" said the policeman who entered his cell with annoyance. He wasn't happy about letting the mysterious man go, but he couldn't do anything else. ' _Well that was easy_ ' Ash thought, smiling, while exiting the police station.

"Why are you letting me go?" Ash asked, before he left.

"Your friend told us everything, so you're exonerated. He is waiting for you outside" he explained. Ash walked out of the police station. He wanted to thank N and Roxie for getting him out of the jail. But what he saw really surprised him.

"Paul?! What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Aren't you going to thank me for getting you out of the jail first?" Paul coldly responded.

"Wait… so you're the 'friend' who explained everything to the police?! You don't even know me well! We've only battled once!" Ash was still shocked, but he tried to hide his true identity.

"Firstly, I want my Salamence back. Secondly, I know who you are, Ketchum" said Paul. Ash gave up on pretending to not knowing Paul, after he heard that name. He also handed the pokeball with Salamence to Paul.

"How did you know it was me?" Ash simply asked.

"That's kinda obvious, but you aren't smart enough to see it. You were the last person to beat me in the Sinnoh League. After that, I rarely lost any battle. So I figured out that it had to be you. Besides, your pathetic costume cannot hide your childishness during the battles" Paul smirked.

"But what exactly did you tell the police?"

"Nothing to worry about- I lied to them. I couldn't possibly tell them that you're the wannabe murderer that everyone is looking for years now. Not because I care about you, I just want my pokemon back" Paul explained.

"Good, old Paul. Even though you act way more polite than in Sinnoh, you always have the time to insult me. You haven't changed at all" Ash said.

"Unlike you, Ash. You have changed a lot. Now tell me, what were you doing down there?" Paul asked. Ash explained the whole situation with his title match, his 'friends' and Lance and how Pikachu got into coma.

"Wow that is an… _interesting_ backstory you got there, Ketchum" Paul couldn't come up with a better adjective than just interesting.

"I'll explain everything later. Now I have to find Roxie and N" Ash started walking away.

"Excuse me, but who is Roxie and N?" Paul seemed confused.

"Oh, right!" Ash facepalmed "You've never met them in person. But they are my friends. Well, kind of…"

"I don't get it" Paul replied.

"Well… N knows me, but Roxie doesn't know who I really am. She thinks that my name is Aiden… Actually, if you think about it, only you, N and his two sisters know my true identity"

"So it would make sense for me to name you Aiden in front of other people from now on…" Paul did not like the idea at all, but he respected Ash, even if he didn't want to admit that.

"You're correct" Ash smiled

"Okay, but let's face it Ketchum- I won't be your best friend forever, just because I know who you really are. The only thing that keeps me from revealing your secret is the fact that you helped me realize something in Sinnoh and I became a better trainer, so I owe you something"

Ash laughed a bit "Better trainer Paul? Look at yourself! You're the pathetic one, now. You lived as a champion of the illegal battle club and forced pokemon of other people to fight for you! Instead you should be collecting badges and trying to win a league!"

"Ketchum, I know it sounds awful, but it's not exactly true"

"Enlighten me then" Ash acted as annoyed, because he wanted to gain as much information from Paul as he could.

"Firstly, after the Sinnoh League, I went to Kanto, because I wanted to find out more about your home region. I managed to collect all the badges, but got beaten in the quarterfinals. Then I went to Hoenn, but with no results either. I managed to collect the badges and got to quarterfinals again. Then I got invited to the Pokemon Master Tournament, so I came to Unova in order to train…"

"Wait… you got invited, too?" Ash interrupted.

"Is it such a surprise for you? Of course I got invited. And by your question I believe you got invited as well, am I right?" Ash nodded. "And could I ask you how? You told me that nobody knows you so how did they manage to find you?"

"Apparently Scott- the creator of the whole event, discovered that I am still alive and asked me if I want to participate, since my arrest warrant expired" Ash explained.

"So, coming back to my backstory…My goal hasn't changed and I wanted to start from here- Virbank City. I came here two weeks ago, but apparently there was no gym here anymore. I found out that they held a battle club here from now on, so I challenged the champion. He told me that if I win in a battle, I get to take the opponents' pokemon. I thought it would be a great way to improve my current party. Anyway, I managed to beat him. He told me that I was the first person to give him a real challenge and he granted me with his Salamence. It was the only pokemon I got here. The rest of them was taken by the staff and I couldn't even take them. Apparently, they didn't tell anyone the truth. They never let anyone take those Pokemon that has been defeated there. So I had no interest in staying in Virbank, but they didn't let me go until someone beats me fair and square. I didn't want anyone to take my pokemon, so I waited for an opportunity to get away without losing my pokemon. And after you came I knew you'd give me my Salamence back, so I let you win on purpose. That's all." Paul explained.

"Wow that is an _interesting_ backstory Paul. It also means, that I haven't beaten you properly, am I right?" Ash teased Paul with the word – interesting.

"Not this time Ash" Both men smiled

"Do you think about the same think Paul?"

"Rematch?" Paul asked, but he obviously knew what was going through Ash's mind.

"Yes" Ash answered.

"AAAIDEN!" a feminine voice shouted from behind. Ash turned back and saw Roxie and N running towards him.

"Finally- N, Roxie!" Ash waved to them.

"Aiden what the hell?! We were looking for you for the whole night!" N said.

"Your friend here, got caught by the police" said Paul

"Wait… Aren't you the guy who Aiden battled in the club?"

"Paul's the name" Paul introduced himself

"I'm Roxie and this is N" Roxie introduced herself and N.

"Anyway Aiden, why didn't you run off when we gave you the sign?!"

"Well… I may have taken the battle between us too seriously. Then, the police caught me and I spent all night in the police station" Roxie and N facepalmed.

"Don't forget that I got you out of there" Paul reminded Ash.

"Really? Why did you do that?" N asked the purple haired trainer

"You see, me and Paul share a long history" Ash answered instead of Paul

"Yeah, me and Ket… Aiden were rivals before" Paul bit his tongue

"Oh, cut the crap you two! I already know about you Ash!" Roxie said.

"Wait, how?" Ash wanted to avoid getting his name being told.

"N told me" Ash got a bit angry. He wanted to tell Roxie anyway, but he thought that N was able to keep his name as a secret.

"Wait what? I was about to tell you but I'm pretty sure I didn't" N tried to defend himself.

"You didn't tell me back then, but after we couldn't find Ash anywhere, you stressed out and mistook his name a few times. So I recalled Ash, being Ash Ketchum and colligated that it had to be you. The same hair style, although other color and the same movements"

"You really remember me Roxie? I thought that even if I would tell you, you wouldn't recall me" Ash said.

"How could I forget about our battle! Not many people got the Toxic Badge. You were one of the few people who actually beat me fair and square!"

"So you are the Virbank City Gym Leader?" Paul asked Roxie

"I was, but…" Roxie explained the whole story to Paul.

"Wow, you see, I wanted to challenge you to a battle, but I found out…" Paul also explained the whole story to N and Roxie.

"So if you won against that man… it means that you own the Salamence that annihilated me!" Roxie made a few steps backwards.

"Woah, woah Roxie! Believe me, it is now a better pokemon. For that short period of time, I taught him a lot of new things. It won't hurt anyone anymore"

"Come on Roxie, you have to overcome your fear" Ash told her

"Paul, could you bring Salamence out for a second?" N asked

"Sure" he released the Dragon Pokemon. Roxie was terrified again. But she reached Salamence's head and stroked it. It huffed and licked her back. Salamence wasn't aggressive anymore.

"Wow, Paul, how did you manage to calm down such an aggressive pokemon? During our battle it seemed like it was going to kill everyone in the club!"

"Already told you Ketchum, hours of practicing… Well I have to go now. I need to practice a lot before the Tournament starts. You should probably train too Ketchum because your moves are very predictable" Paul smirked. Then he turned to Roxie "Call me when you get your gym back, then we'll have a battle"

"Got it" Roxie replied. Paul started walking away, and right before Ash did the same, he recalled something and started running after Paul.

"Wait Paul!"

"Huh?" Paul turned to see Ash running toward shim.

"We forgot about the rematch!"

"Oh, you're right!" Paul looked at the sky. It was getting dark already, but both Ash and Paul were determined to battle once again "Hmm…I bet I can still beat you before the sunset"

"You obviously meant that _I_ can beat you before the sunset" Ash said teasingly.

"Yeah… whatever" and they all went on to find the nearest meadow outside the Virbank City where they could have the battle.

"Just where we finished earlier… Sceptile, I choose you!" Ash yelled and threw his pokeball into the air.

"Electivire, stand for the battle" Paul did the same.

 _With the gang_

"Nurse Joy! I love you with all my heart and I'll be honored to…" Brock's love confession was as always interrupted by his precious Croagunk. The rest of the gang made their way to the main desk, where Brock was already lying in pain.

"Is that man your friend? Shouldn't we give him some medicine? After all he's been punched by Croagunk" Nurse Joy asked, seeing that they are helping the man to stand up.

"You mean Brock? Forget about him, he's used to that pain. He _trains_ everyday" May laughed as well as the rest of the group.

"Actually, we are looking for a place to spend the night in. Could we get some rooms here in the Pokemon Center?" asked Cilan.

"I'm sorry, but everything in Virbank City is temporarily closed" Nurse Joy explained.

"But why?" asked Misty.

"We had a _situation_ yesterday and the police is trying their best to clean up the mess someone made"

"What kind of a _situation_ , if I may ask?" Stephan asked

"I wasn't told, but it caused a lot of pokemon to suffer" Then some medic called Nurse Joy, so she said "I'm sorry but I have to go" and she ran into the operating room. The gang went outside and thought about where are they going to spend the night.

"I guess we will have to spend the night, _camping_ " Max sighed.

"Yeah… Just like in the good old days" Brock added.

"I don't know what you're guys complaining about? Camping is fun, you'll love it!" Stephan said with vigor, as they went to the nearby forest to find a fine place to sleep.

 _Back with Ash and Paul_

"Use **Bullet seed**!" exclaimed Ash

" **Protect**!" Paul yelled.

"They both really want to win this battle" Roxie said to N. they were watching the battle for the whole time.

"I agree. Their rivalry over the years made them stronger. I remember how Ash used to tell me about Paul, being his worst rival. He was brutal and didn't care about his pokemon. The only thing he wanted was to get stronger and stronger. If that is true, he has changed a lot" N replied.

"They seem like friends now, so I believe they'll both help each other when the other one is in need" Roxie said.

"Electivire use **Thunder Punch**!" Paul ordered.

"Don't let him touch you! Use **Agility**!" Ash said.

" **Thunder**!"

" **Quick Attack**!"

" **Charge Beam**!"

" **Leaf Storm**!" Both Pokemon were exhausted. They couldn't maintain the battle's pace anymore, so they both refused to fight more.

"It seems like you've drawn guys" Roxie laughed. It was the first time she saw Pokemon shaking hands and refusing to fight.

"Great battle Paul!" Ash and Paul shaked hands.

"You did well too, Ash" Paul said.

"Great battle guys" said N.

"Thanks" Both Ash and Paul answered.

"Well, I think it's time for me to go" said Paul.

"Where are you heading now Paul?" asked N.

"I might take a step back and visit Aspertia City. My good friend Hugh lives there" he responded.

"If Paul is going, than so am I. I have to get back to gym to clean up the mess that was left there. And I'll also try to get my gym leadership back" Roxie explained.

"If you do, then I'll be the first one to challenge you"

"Good luck for both of you. See you at the tournament!" Ash and N waved in Paul's and Roxie's directions as they left.

"So… what now?" N said admiring the sunset.

"Well, I have a lot of training to do, that's for sure. It's still a week and a half left. But I think it is finally time to go to Vertress City. We might also stop by somewhere else if you insist" Ash couldn't help laughing on the last part.

"Yeah… I get it, because I dragged you here in the first place- great joke" N said sarcastically, but seconds after he started laughing as well.

"Hey you two! Hi there!" someone yelled behind them.

 _With the gang_

"Ugh… it's so frustrating! Why do we have to keep looking? We already walked past few places where we could sleep" said Drew.

"But they weren't the perfect spots!" Dawn May and Misty said together. Iris was the only girl who agreed with the boys. They could have gone to sleep like half of a hour ago.

"Look! Over there!" Dawn squeaked "What a majestic view!" she pointed to the sunset.

"We could always set up the camp here and admire it more" said Brock.

"YES!" said the girls, even Iris now. Boys sighed together in relief. they could finally lay down and go to sleep.

"Wait a second…" Misty noticed something in the distance "I think I see someone there" she said as she started approaching the figures in the distance who were admiring the sunset

"Misty maybe we couldn't interrupt them…" Gary tried to stop Misty.

"Bullshit! I wanna make friends with them too, whoever they are!" May followed Misty.

"Hey you two! Hi there!" May and Misty yelled and waved to the people.

"Oh you have to be fucking kidding me…" said Ash and N together.

* * *

 **Another cliffhanger! That's so typical of me!**

 **Anyway, i** **f you haven't seen the reuploaded chapters or haven't even heard about them, I recommend you to read all of the previous ones again, since I made some crucial corrections that will affect on the story in the future episodes!**

 **I apologize once again for not uploading for so long. But life is life after all. It is highly probable that I'll manage to write another chapter before Christmas, but don't hold me to it, since you never know what might happend to you in the nearest future. Also I'll have a lot of free time at the end of December, so I'm going to spend it writing Rising To The Top. Be sure that if I won't update to Christmas, I'll do a extra chapter before 2016 :)**

 **Please, review this story if you liked it. You know what? Do it even if you didn't like it at all. i just need a feedback, because I don't know what you guys like about my story and what you don't like!**

 **By the way, you can still send your OC's to me via PM(Private Message) and I'll probably use them later in the story! The application formula is at the end of the 4th chapter.**

 **See you in the next chapter!**


	8. Paths of Friendship

**YES! The time has finally come, the wait is finally over! I AM BACK!**

 **Again, I am sorry for not uploading, but it wasn't my laziness this time as you already probably know. Still, for those ones who completely missed the announcements, I'll explain my absence underneath the chapter!**

 **Question for you: Would you like me to do a specific P.O.V. of Ash, N or anybody else, rather than the Third person P.O.V.? Or maybe mix them up, so I could do both?**

 **I tried to make this chapter as epic as I could, so I can repay you this long wait. Now let's begin the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. I wish I did. I'd be sooo rich!**

* * *

"Hey you two! Hi there!" May and Misty yelled and waved to the people.

"Oh you have to be fucking kidding me…" said Ash and N together

"Hi! I'm Misty! It's really nice to meet you!" Misty said.

"And I'm May! Nice to meet you too!" May said. The rest of the gang started approaching N and Ash. The blonde haired trainer tried to hide his anger, he clenched his fists and gritted teeth. N looked at Ash. His eyes said 'Please, stay calm I beg you' so Ash tried even more to be polite.

"Hello, my name is N and this is my friend Aiden" N replied

"I think your cute friend can speak for himself" May said which caused Ash to frown and N to grit his teeth as well.

"Misty , May I think we shouldn't invade their privacy like that" Dawn said

"Wait… N?!" Iris asked

"Iris?! Cilan?! Oh my Arceus, I haven't seen you guys in like 5 years or so!" N greeted them.

"And who is that?" Cilan asked pointing at Ash.

"I'm Aiden, N's good friend. And you?" Ash of course knew the whole gang, but he didn't want them to ask him more questions, because he could say something, he would regret in the future.

"Okay, N and Aiden- meet the gang. Here you have Misty and May as you probably already know, then you have May's brother Max, Dawn, Brock, Gary, Stephan and Drew"

"Excuse me" interrupted Stephan "but haven't we met before?" he asked Ash.

 _Police Station, Virbank City_

"Good night Jenson, don't work for too long. Remember that tomorrow we're cleaning the mess in the Gym" said Officer Jenny as she walked out of the Police Station.

"Good Night Jenny" said Officer Jenson, not even turning away from the screen of his computer. When Officer Jenny left and the door slam, Jenson quickly ran to the cell where Ash spent the night. Then he grabbed a little brush and a sticker and collected the fingerprints.

"For once I'm happy that my co-workers are complete idiots. Now let's see if my suspicions are true" he said to himself. Jenson went back to the office and started analyzing the fingerprints. He wanted to find out who the mysterious person was. Apparently he was the only one, who didn't believe Paul and wanted to find out more. He was also counting on finding **him**. Ash Ketchum. It was his mission for over 3 years. And no, it wasn't given to him by the Police, because they didn't give a shit about finding Ash. He got that mission from someone else. So he was working as a double agent. You know, there always has to be the good cop and the bad cop.

"Bingo!" said Jenson as the analysis showed who's fingerprints were in the cell. And it was indeed Ash Ketchum. Then Jenson grabbed a remote from his briefcase and clicked a button. On the wall in front of him a big screen showed up. Then it started calling someone on the screen.

"Jenson" said a masculine voice from the other side. He was sitting in a dark room, while being turned with his back to Jenson. " I hope you have a good excuse for calling me right now"

"I wouldn't bother you if I didn't have anything to say, boss" Jenson replied.

"Then make it quick"

" I found him. I've tracked Ash Ketchum"

 _Back with Ash_

They were all seating around the campfire and talking. Even Ash managed to stay calm and not furiously punch anyone, although he was afraid that they're going to find out about his secret. _'Excuse me, but haven't we met before?'_ this question really made Ash thinking about staying with the gang. Luckily, everyone dropped the topic when Ash lied that he hasn't met Stephan before. _'I cannot stay with them for a long time. Sonner or later they'll find out and I can't risk being put into the media again'_ They were all eating a dinner prepared by Cilan and Brock.

"I must say…" started Ash "you two are great cooks"

"Thanks, we both have a lot of experience in making delicious meals" Then again silence. No one knew what to talk about with the strangers. Everyone -except for Misty and May of course- were mad at the two girls for inviting N and Ash ( **An:** of course they don't know about Ash being Aiden. I'm just using his real name, because it is easier to understand) for the dinner.

"So… are you guys heading to Vertress City by any chance?" Gary said.

"Yes we are" both Ash and N replied.

"Then you're going to participate in the tournament as well?" asked Max. If they were going to be his opponents, he wanted to gain as much information as he could.

N shook his head. "Not me, but Aiden is competing. Have you all been invited to battle?"

"Not everyone. "Misty and Cilan are Gym Leaders, which means they're not allowed to participate and Brock got some kind of a job in the Vetress Pokemon Center"

"What kind of a job, if I may ask?" N's curiosity lead him to ask this question.

"Well, the Vertress Pokemon Center invited a few additional doctors to help Nurse Joy during the tournament. Apparently there is so many people coming that she need help. And I'm always willing to help beautiful women in help. Especially beatufil women such as Nurse Joy who's appearance is always…" Brock was cut off by Croagunk.

"Come on, she isn't even here. Can't I even dream about her anymore?" everyone burst out laughing.

"Coming back to the topic, Iris is competing as well as Max, May, Stephan, Dawn, Drew and me" explained Gary.

"Wait, but didn't you tell us that you're Pokemon Coordinators?" Ash asked Drew Dawn and May. N noticed a smirk on Ash's face, so he believed that Ash had a wonderful idea about teasing the gang, so he followed Ash's question.

"I heard that Coordinators have their own contests and tournaments" N said.

"So what?! If I'm a Coordiantor, then I can't fight in a regular battle?" Drew protested.

"Yeah, coordinating is exhausting thing. We just sometimes need more _primitive_ activities" May said teasingly.

"Did you just say that Pokemon battles are primitive?" said angry Max. The rest of the gang felt resentful as well.

"Come on guys! We were just joking! Battling is fun!" May said. Everyone got the joke and came back to eating. Then out of nowhere a question came to Drew's mind.

"Are you a strong trainer Aiden?" asked Drew casually.

"Well, it's not for me to decide" Ash simply answered looking at N.

"N?" Iris wanted to learn about Ash as well.

"He is pretty good, I must say. Maybe not the strongest trainer I've ever seen, but he sure has a lot of potential"

"Thanks man" Ash sarcastically said to N.

"And who is the best trainer you've seen?" Dawn asked out of nowhere. No one thought about it before, but N had a lot of experience in travelling and he could knew of some great talents. So everyone else got interested too.

"He _was_ the best trainer. And I'm talking about Ash. Ash Ketchum. Iris and Cilan probably know who I'm talking about since they traveled with him when I first met them" Every single person from the gang lowered their gaze. The only exception was May who started crying a little. And Drew tried to cheer her up. If they would look up, they would see Ash giving N the 'What the hell are you doing?' look. N simply put his finger on his lips. It was a sign for Ash to stay quiet. Ash knew what was coming. N wanted to make the gang pay for what they've done to Ash, by reminding them of him.

"Did I say something wrong?" N's acting was great. He looked really convincing. Brock was the first person to look up and reply "We all traveled with _him_. He was the person who made us all meet each other" The next person to speak was Gary

"But one day he couldn't maintain the pressure and tried to kill the Champion of Kanto during his own battle" Ash started to get angry inside, but he still looked fine from the outside.

"And when we tried to talk to him, he ran off to the forest like a coward. And then committed suicide" Misty finished the story. Ash was raging inside, but he was still trying his best to stay calm. Although Misty changing up the whole story didn't make it easier.

"Wow I never thought Ash would do something like that. I thought he just died of some natural causes. Are you sure it was him?"

"Yep. 100 percent sure. All the evidence showed it was him"

"Look sorry to interrupt you, but can we change the topic? I think certain people don't want to talk about it anymore" said Dawn discretely pointing at the sobbing May. Even though she wanted to talk about Ash herself, because she never stopped thinking about Ash, she didn't want May to suffer. Every person from the gang knew that during their travels May had a huge crush for Ash. Actually she wasn't the only one. But May was the most obvious person. Then after _the incident_ May was left heartbroken, although she was the first person to accuse Ash of assassination, which Dawn never really truly understood. Everyone else was obvious- Gary was always being cocky and proud of himself; Misty was quickly getting angry and so she didn't even need to her the evidence after Ash, she just believed Officer Jenny straight away; then Brock who was always caring about everyone like a father, so he didn't want to get anyone hurt by a Ash; Max wasn't even 10 by the time, so he just had to believe his sister and his parents probably convinced him after going back to Hoenn; Cilan and Iris were Ash's latest friends and they probably knew him the least so it was easier to convince them; Drew and Stephan weren't even there so they most likely believed what the TV said and finally there was Dawn herself. She didn't tell anyone this, but she also had a crush on Ash. During their travels in Sinnoh Dawn didn't understand it, but when he left her in Sinnoh to travel alone, she realized how much Ash meant to her. Travelling alone wasn't fun at all. She only sometimes met up with Kenny and Zoey, but she still felt like something was missing. And the missing piece was always Ash. Then after the incident she was the only one not to believe Officer Jenny, even more, she tried to run after Ash, but she got stopped by the police, who said they're going to find Ash by themselves. No one realized that Dawn wasn't running after Ash to find him and put him to jail. She wanted to **get away** _ **with**_ **Ash** , but she got left, again. She was heartbroken, but she was always waiting for him to come back for her. And he never did. So as the time went she understood that he must be dead. And that's why she was no longer successful. Every time she entered a contest Ash was on her mind and she never focused enough. So she started travelling with the gang, hoping to start winning contests once again.

"Aiden, what about a little battle between us?" said Stephan out of nowhere.

"A double battle?" added Gary. _'Fuck. I cannot battle them with my full power, because they'll instantly recognize me'_ thought Ash. Then on the other hand, he wanted to battle too _'You know what? Screw it, I'm battling. I don't give a shit if they recognize me or not'_ but still, Ash was hoping to stay hidden, so he tried to not use any tactics reminding of him.

"Count me in, but I don't have a battle partner" said Ash. Gary and Stephan looked at N. "I don't have any Pokemon. I'm certainly not into battles" Gary raised his eyebrow.

"Believe him Gary. N is not the battling type" Iris explained.

"Anyone wants to team up with Aiden?" Gary looked back at the rest of his friends. For a second no one got up.

"I'll try. Why not?" said Dawn. She was bored with the never ending rivalry of Gary and Stephan. Sometimes even Max got into the fight. So she wanted to teach their egos' a lesson. Also she would get to know Aiden more. And maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing? She didn't know why, but he seemed very friendly, even if they didn't get to talk alone.

After a while they all prepared for the battle Brock announced "That's a battle between two teams- Gary with Stephan and Aiden with Dawn. Begin!" he shouted like it was a really formal and official match.

"Quilava!" shouted Dawn.

"Umbreon, you're up!" yelled Gary.

"Watchog, show yourself! " cried Stephan.

' _From all the people- why does it have to be Dawn?! She is probably the only one I've teamed up so much with. She'll instantly recognize me! What do I do? What do I do? And which Pokemon do I use? Charizard is too obvious and strong, Dawn will instantly recall Buizel, since she caught him in the first place, Krookodile's sunglasses are too recognizable for Iris and Cilan, Max and May would have a heart attack if the'd see Sceptile. Staraptor maybe be also a little bit too recognizable for those ones who traveled with me in Sinnoh. I think the only one left is…'_

"Gible, come out" said politely Ash, in order to not be recognized. Although he saw N laughing at his action. ' _Kinda funny isn't it? I'm making a fool of myself, in order not to be recognized by my ex-friends, which all happen to believe that I'm dead while staring at me. When I first started my journey, I would never predict some situation like this one_ ' Ash thought.

"Begin the battle then!" shouted Brock.

"Umbreon use **Quick attack** on Quilava!"

"Quilava use **Smokescreen** to disorient Umbreon!" Dawn prevented Umbreon's attack suspiciously well.

"Now it's our turn Watchog- use **Super Fang**!"

"Gible try to dodge it!" Watchog's Super Fang got a direct hit.

"Let's keep up the momentum- **Low Kick** on Gible!" Although Ash prayed for Gible to get up and protect himself from the attack, he knew that the Land Shark Pokemon was still weak and most likely wouldn't get up on time.

"Quilava protect Gible!" Dawn shouted. It was a game changer, and everyone- even Gary and Stephan- looked at Dawn suspiciously. But it didn't stop the battle from going.

"What the heck are you doing?" Ash asked Dawn.

"Just trying to not have to fight against two opponents by myself" she smiled.

"Umbreon help Watchog out- try to knock Quilava out with **Tackle**!" Gary shouted.

"Come on Gible- p!" this time, Ash couldn't stop himself from shouting. The adrenaline was boiling inside his body. But Gible didn't make it on time. Quilava took Low Kick and Tackle and flew few meters away.

"Quilava are you alright?!" Dawn looked really nervous. She cared for her pokemon so much that she would do anything for them. Ash looked at her for a second. He recalled those times when they traveled toghether back in Sinnoh. ' _Dawn hasn't changed at all. She still deeply cares for her pokemon, even though she acted depressed when we first met_ '. Ash now had the opportunity to attack.

"Gible let's give it our best shot… use **Draco Meteor**!" And it hit both Umbreon and Watchog. It gave Quilava few seconds to recover, then Umbreon and Watchog were ready to proceed the battle.

"Sweet" said Gary "Umbreon use **Quick attack** again on Quilava!"

"Watchog focus on Quilava as well, he is nearly unconscious- **Focus Punch**!" Stephan ordered.

"Gible it's time to repay Quilava- protect it at all costs- we can't lose!" And in a second Gible stood between Quilava, who still tried to get up and attacking Umbreon and Watchog. When the pokemon collided, Gible used his whole power to stop the attacks from going on. He was a tough battler although he was clumsy sometimes. Gible looked at Ash, his expressions said ' _Come on Gible you can do it!_ ' so he focused even more, to the point where he started to glow weirdly!

"What's happening?" said Ash.

"Gible is evolving…" said Brock. And in the matter of seconds, Gible's body stopped to glow demonstrating a new, better pokemon.

"Gabiteeee!" it cried. Ash only smirked. He forgot how good it felt, when a pokemon in your care evolves. He was… just… so proud. There weren't any more words to describe that feeling.

"Okay Gabite, show us your new power! **Dragon Pulse**!" Gabite released a powerful attack. Everyone knew what was the outcome of it going to be. Both Watchog and Umbreon were laying on the ground, unable to move.

"Umbreon and Watchog are unable to battle. Aiden and Dawn wins" said Brock pointing at the winners.

"You did great Quilava- now rest" said politely Dawn.

"Gabite, I cannot describe how proud of you am I" said Ash while stroking his head.

"Umbreon, you did good" Gary managed to say, while opening it's pokeball.

"Good job out there, Watchog" Stephan's reaction was very similar to Gary's.

Ash was still playing with Gabite. Then someone went up to Ash. When he lifted his head, he saw _her_. Dawn was staring at him. He stood up and shaked hands with her. It felt so… wrong. At first he wanted to lift his hand up and give her a high-five, but quickly realized that she would recognize him. But on the other side, he felt like she needed to know. Even though she betrayed him. Ash had a brain storm inside his mind right now.

"Ekhem… Aiden? You're still holding my hand" Dawn said.

"Oh… I'm really sorry, I think I zoned out" Ash responded.

"What were you thinking about?" Dawn asked curiously.

"Nothing important really… just how excited I am to participate in the tournament" Ash lied.

"Oh…" Dawn really looked forward to a more fascinating answer " by the way thank you for protecting Quilava"

"Now I should be the one thanking you in the first place. You saved Gible from fainting" They both smiled and walked up to the rest of the group.

"Thanks guys for the battle, it was really something" Ash said to Gary and Stephan.

"I guess you can say that" Stephan was far from being happy, but he was too polite to say something else. But Gary on the other hand, couldn't stand losing to Ash and Dawn.

"If your stupid Gible didn't evolve, we'd mop the floor with you!" he burst out angrily.

"Calm down man, it was just a battle" Ash was really surprised by Oak's action. He was always straightforward, but never to this point.

"Yeah, you have to admit that Gabite is too strong for you" Max was fascinated in the way Aiden(Ash) battled that he took his side.

"Max, I think you're getting mean now" Brock as always tried to calm everybody down.

"Oh no you didn't just say that" Misty was now taking Gary's side.

"Misty stop, he is only a kid" Iris tried to stop Misty from doing something stupid. Because Gary would handle himself and when misty gets into some argument, it always end really bad.

"Hey stop calling me a kid!" Max was now angry as well "I am more mature and intelligent than most of you combined together!"

The rest of the gang including- May, Drew, Iris, Cilan, Brock and even Stephan now, took Gary's side, while Dawn Max and N happened to stand by Ash's side.

"Say that again" May interrupted. She couldn't stand her brother anymore.

" _I am more intelligent now than you'll ever be May_ " said Max with so much hate in his voice. He couldn't stand his sister as well. And except for the blood it was the only thing they had in common.

"That's it. You're going home!" May grabbed Max by the collar, but Ash interrupted.

"May I think he is old enough to decide for himself" said Ash politely, because he knew that the atmosphere was getting oddly familiar, to the situation at Indigo Plateau.

"And who are you to decide weirdo?" Drew was the next person to insult Ash. "No one knows you and you won your battle only with sheer luck. If it wasn't Gabite's evolution you'd lose- just like Gary said. Besides, look at Dawn. She hasn't won anything in like 4 years! She is so unsuccessful that her own Pokemon aren't able to evolve- Piplup, Quilava…"

"Shut up! If you think she is so bad, than why do you travel with her? Because of your kindness? Cause I can't feel any. Just face it. You're just a bunch of self-centered pricks, who have idiocy in common" Ash tried to defend Dawn, but she started crying, grabbed her bag and ran to the forest.

"Come on guys, I think those losers don't enjoy our company" said Iris while turning back.

"I'm not going without Max. He needs to be grounded by our parents" May refused to let his brother go.

"Screw you May! I'm going to the Vertress City by myself, whether you like it or not. I'm going to show you that I can handle myself!" Max also turned around and ran to the forest, although in the opposite direction than Dawn.

"I guess you can go with us now May. You'll see Max at the tournament" And after Drew finished this sentence, they all walked away. And when they did Ash said:

"Right N, I'm going after Dawn and you convince Max" N nodded.

"And when I find him, I'll ask Alakazam to teleport us to you" Ash also nodded.

"Good luck" they both said and started running after their… _new friends_.

* * *

 **And that's what I call a chapter worth reviewing! So could you please do it? Right now? Or simply after you finish reading what you're actually reading? In a word- PLEASE REVIEW!**

 **A lot of things happened- We've finally learned more about 'the gang', we've discovered why does Dawn always seems so depressed and Officer Jenson's true calling!**

 **Although there are still some huge mysteries left. For example- Who is Jenson working for? (No, it's not Giovani, FFS. He is sooo much overused that I'd throw up if it was him); Who else is working for him?; Are Ash and N going to find and convince Max and Dawn to travel with them?; Is Ash going to reveal his secret?; Who is the mysterious person, who took the gym from Roxie and gave Paul his Salamence?**

 **Coming back to what I said earlier-** **I had a massive problem with my computer on which I had all my files stuffed. My PC refused to cooperate completely, just when I was working on this exact chapter. I obviously tried to write it once again, but it wasn't as good as the first version I lost. So I decided to wait about two weeks to get my PC repaired! Believe me, the school is still a pain in the ass. So once again, I'll try my best to update as soon as possible, although it can take up to two weeks for me to upload a new chapter. Although I'll try to update next weekend. But I've already proven my lack of consistency, so go easy on me :)**

 **I know consistency is the key to be successful, but I put the quality(no grammar mistakes, entertainment of a chapter) above all else. Just like one of my viewers said:**

-Take your time, and make sure the chapter is to your liking before you update. After all. It's your story, so you'll know what's best. ~ **Black Silverclaw**

 **This exact sentence made me so happy. Because if you think about it, when I'll finish this story someday, I'd rather have a great story with long breaks, than a consistent story full of boring chapters. So thank you Black Silverclaw once again for your review! 3**

 **Once again, let me know what do you think about my work- Is it entertaining? What would you change? Also, would you like to see specific P.O.V.(point of view) of Ash or N or anybody else, rather than the Third person P.O.V.? Or maybe mix them up?**


	9. Dawn's struggle, Ash's reveal!

**Welcome guys, to the next chapter of Rising To The Top! I bet you all couldn't wait for the story to continue, so I will leave everything under the chapter, so you could start reading the chapter already.**

 **Of course I wouldn't mind if you leave a review, telling me how was the chapter. As always, I suggest that after you're done with reading the story, you also read the note at the end.**

 **Disclaimer: NOT AGAIN!**

* * *

"I just wanna go home… I just wanna go home" Dawn repeatedly told myself, while crying and sobbing like a little baby. But she didn't care about it. Everything that mattered was… well… nothing mattered basically. Not after all she has been through…

* * *

 _Flashback, few days after Ash's disappearance_

" _Dawn come on! Get out of the room and talk to us!" Gary pleased._

" _Yeah Dawn. What he says. You can't just sit here forever" Brock also tried to cheer Dawn up from behind the door of her room._

" _We are all stunned of what's happened lately, but he's gone now, you don't need to be sad. No one will ever fall for his games again" Misty was also trying to be a big help in Dawn's recovery._

* * *

And Dawn would have been thankful to all of them for their help to this day, if they knew the reason why she was crying. It wasn't because of Ash's assassination. It was all about Ash.

Dawn just couldn't understand why Ash would do such a thing. From the beginning of their friendship, he was always the same- caring deeply for others. That's why he would never hurt anyone. And Dawn was the only one who understood it properly. All of her friends hated Ash from now on, but not Dawn. Right after Ash ran away, she wanted to catch up with him and never lose him again. But he was too fast and also the rest of her friends stopped her, mistaking her loyalty to Ash for the rage towards him. She wanted to get away with him so much, but after the whole incident it would make no sense to reveal that anyway.

The day after, she looked everywhere for him, but she never found a clue where could he went. At this point, he was dead or he hid quickly, because of the police already being after him. And Dawn always prayed it was the second option. But her friends… -not anymore at this point- were constantly bragging about how they could have beat him up if they could find him. They also considering his death as the most probable option. And as the time went, they all accepted is as truth. All of them, except for Dawn. For her, Ash was everything- they shared a bond that he never had with any of his past companions. Something that neither Ash or Dawn or anyone else could have described properly. He taught her everything about life. During their travels they always cared deeply for each other, because they always seemed like siblings and were constantly mistook as brother and sister.

After Dawn got back to Sinnoh, she couldn't find a way to forget about him. Whatever she was doing- she automatically thought of Ash. So she couldn't find courage to resume her journey. She was usually invited by Zoey or Lyra or even Kenny, but none of them could make Dawn stop thinking about him.

Then after nearly a year, she decided she would continue to become the best coordinator the world has ever met. And even though she started pretty well, she and all of her pokemon were not the same, which Zoey -as she was the one to travel with Dawn for most of the time- took as some kind of depression that Dawn just has to fight herself. She also stopped talking, ate only when she was starving and slept barely. After a few losses she stopped doing contests again.

Then Iris showed up and invited her to the newly reborn group with all of Ash's travelling companions. Dawn was mad at them at first, but then she decided she would rejoin them and maybe that would help her in general. Later she realized she has made the greatest mistake of her life, as she saw that none of her ex-friends changed. They were still unbearable. The only thing that has changed was the fact that they stopped mentioning Ash forever, even though sometimes it slipped out of someone's mouth. They were always trying to avoid this topic. At first Dawn thought it was the fact that they felt bad for him, but it wasn't. They were still full of anger, except for May who cried every time someone mentioned Ash. But she stated that she was happy that he was gone. Then Drew became a part of her life and she… well… forgot about Ash. Still sometimes a tear would appear on her face when Ash's topic was brought up.  
Not only Dawn was unhappy by travelling with Ash's past companions, they were also slightly more rude to Dawn and always complained about her style, mood, pokemon and everything. That's when something terrible happened…

* * *

 _Flashback, sometime before the tournament_

" _What does it mean you want to go into your pokeball Piplup?" Dawn was stunned. Her best friend never wanted to sit inside and now out of nowhere he asks to be put inside. "Don't you like sitting here with everyone else?"_

 _Piplup didn't say anything and pecked the pokeball's button which caused to suck him in. Dawn fully understood what was happening- Piplup didn't like Dawn's companions and wanted to be left alone. So was Dawn, but she couldn't just hide inside a small pokeball of someone's else._

" _Dawn, did Piplup just…?" said Brock who was also shocked. Brock out of all the people was sometimes nicer to Dawn then the rest. But still, he was sometimes a pain in the ass._

" _Yeah… I mean… it's okay for a pokemon to sit inside his pokeball, but Piplup always wanted to stay on top of everything. And now, he's just… sad" Dawn tried to play cool, but she was really about to cry._

" _Maybe it's because he didn't participate in any contests lately- you know, Pokemon should use some rivalry form time to time" Brock wasn't that much of a help, if you truly understood what was going on._

" _Perhaps… but I think he might not be in the mood to talk to me right now" Dawn answered._

* * *

From that particular moment, Piplup wasn't himself as well. He barely wanted to get out, only for food and to swim peacefully when he was near a river or lake. That's when Dawn lost not only Ash, but her best friend Piplup. From now on, Piplup never participated in battles, so he didn't have any chance to evolve…

…

"AAARGH!" someone yelled behind Dawn as she was still crying somewhere in the woods.

"Oh my Arceus… Aiden?! You scared the shit out of me!" Dawn wiped out the tears and went towards Ash.

"Sorry, I was trying to get to you as quiet as I could, but I tripped over a rock or something" Ash explained. The truth is, he didn't trip over, he just wanted to catch Dawn's attention and he had no idea on how to come closer to her. He was watching her for about half of an hour in total.

"Are you okay?" Dawn asked once again.

"Yeah, I'm totally fine" Ash said. Dawn went then back to her corner where she was crying and started sobbing again. Ash seeing that, went to sit next to her.

"Come on Dawn, stop crying. They already left, no one is going to hurt your feelings now" Ash tried to calm Dawn down.

"Oh Aiden, if it was so simple. I'm not crying over the argument" Dawn still wasn't sure about Aiden. He seemed like a nice guy and he was a good battler, but that's all.

"Than what is that all about?" Ash kept pushing the topic further, not knowing that she was crying over him.

"It's nothing important, so there is no need to worry!" Dawn smiled a little, although she was still in pain.

"That's when I worry the most…" Ash said it automatically and facepalmed. It was the most obvious way to reveal himself!

"Huh?" Dawn moved towards Aiden and looked at him closely " _The same eyes, the same hair although in another color and this smile_ …" Dawn thought. "Oh my… I'm gonna…" And Dawn fainted.

Dawn woke up. The first thing that came to her mind was the rain that she was hearing. But, she wasn't getting wet at all. She then opened her first eye and looked around. She was in some kind of a cave. She saw the outside where it was really downpour. Then she looked at the inside of the cave. In the middle, there was a campfire with 2 figures sitting around. Dawn recognized these people to be N and… Ash… That's when she realized everything.

"Ash…" she mumbled and tried getting up.

"Woah! Easy princess… don't strain yourself too hard, you lost consciousness for over a few hours" Ash spoke. He helped her stand up and sat down with her near the fire.

"It's great to have you back Dawn" N smiled.

"Yeah, thanks, I appreciate it" But Dawn was not paying attention to N, but to a certain boy, or a man at this point, who was sitting right next to her. "I… think I'm going to use some fresh air" N wanted to give Dawn and Ash some privacy, because he saw how Dawn reacted to Ash's true identity.

"No, N! You don't need to go- besides it's still raining-" Ash and Dawn spoke together.

"It's totally fine. The rain won't hurt me" And the green haired man left the cave. For a moment there was silence inside. Dawn was just… admiring the view while Ash found it a little bit uncomfortable.

"So… Dawn… err… how has the life been lately?" Ash instantly regretted what he has just said. ' _That's a_ _great way to start a conversation Ash!_ ' he thought and facepalmed mentally. What Ash didn't expect was Dawn finding that a little bit funny. She had a huge smile on her face right now.

"Nothing really, except for me being betrayed by my friends" she answered sarcastically. Ash also found that funny and started laughing a bit.

"Wow. It was like a water of Ducklett's back for you really" Ash was very, very surprised.

"Meh… I completely don't care about it. I found something more interesting now…" Dawn was so happy that she finally found that Ash Ketchum, that the writer was unable to express it in the text.

"And what it could be?" asked Ash although he knew all the way what was the outcome of this situation going to be.

"Well… it's a secret. I can't really tell you _right now_ " Dawn teased. "And how has life been for you, Ash?" Dawn intended to finally call Ash by his real name. It was a relief to be finally able to talk to him about all of the things that she was unable to say to anyone for years.

"Well, a few hours ago I got to meet my old friends, which completely hate me, so I needed to hide my true identity from them. I noticed they didn't change at all for all these years and that they were still absolutely selfish and narcissistic. Then I caused all of them to start fighting -of course _unwittingly_ \- about some bullshit and they separated from each other. And I don't think they're getting to forgive each other in the nearest future" Ash explained said.

"And then, what did you do?" Dawn wanted to play this weird game for a little bit longer, so Ash kept speaking. "Well… because I earlier noticed Dawn's depression I tried to cheer her up, so she won't cry anymore-"

"Hell no! I wasn't crying, at all! I'm not a baby! I was just… a little bit upset okay?!" Dawn interrupted.

"Okay I understand" Ash sarcastically nodded. "Where were we? Oh… Then she lost consciousness because she found out that she was technically talking to a dead man"

"Which brings us to the question: why didn't you reveal yourself to me earlier? Where were you for all these years? And who is to blame for the pain that we have been through?!" Dawn asked.

"I think he'll explain it later. Right now we have to focus on finding Max" N interrupted "the rain stopped , so he'll be back on his way to Vertress City"

"What? Hell no! That's so cliché! He was about to tell me everything and… and" Dawn stopped talking but she finished her sentence in her head _'We were going to share our first passionate kiss_ '

"N is right Dawn. Max left the group just like you did. He'll probably get in trouble in no time, so I think we might want to start looking for him. He is also broken and needs some people who he can trust" Ash cheered Dawn up a little.

"It's just n-not fair…" she wasn't sure if Ash felt about her the way she did feel about him, but she dreamed of this moment for the last three years. And N had to interrupt!

"Okay guys, pack your stuff. I'm going to see where could he possibly left" N left the cave and called out Alakazam, so he would help them track Max. At the same time, Ash and Dawn packed their stuff and where about to leave the cave when…

"Ash…" Dawn started.

"Yeah Dawn?" Dawn moved slightly closer to the boy, which Ash noticed. His heart started to beat faster, although he just couldn't understand why.

"I have one more thing for you…" Her head moved towards Ash's. So Ash closed his eyes and waited for the kiss of hers. Suddenly, SMACK! Dawn has slapped him on the cheek really hard. He instantly covered his cheek with his hand.

"That's for leaving me in Kanto!" Dawn yelled.

"Ouch! Okay, I think I deserved it-" SMACK! Dawn slapped him for the second time.

"That's for not contacting me for those three long years!" Dawn had to let go of the rage.

"Ouch! Okay Dawn I get it-" SMACK! Dawn slapped Ash for the third time.

"That's for ruining my hair today!"

"Hey I tried to bring you inside, so you wouldn't-" SMACK! Dawn slapped him one more time, though the last time was unnecessary.

"Ouch! And what was that for?" he asked furiously.

"I-I… I don't know…" Dawn said confused. Then she jumped right into his arms and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm glad that you're alive Ash" Dawn wiped out the newly formed tears and smiled, like she never did for all those years of separation.

"I'm glad to see you too, Dawn" Ash hugged her even harder and then they went to catch up with N.

"Ash! Dawn!" N shouted as he saw something frightening near their current position.

"What the heck is going on?" Ash yelled as he saw what was coming towards them.

* * *

 **So yeah, that wraps the chapter up. I know it's been a little short, but I wanted to make it a special AshxDawn chapter. I will try to make it up for you in the next one. If you want to see more content, then:**

 **REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

 **Seriously, I know that everyone complains about the lack of reviews, but trust me it doesn't help at all, when you see that over 1000 people saw the chapter and only 2 of them wrote a review, so once again please review!**

 **I've finally decided on not adding the 1st person P.O.V.'s to the story. The reason behind this is that I really prefer to write in the third point of view and it would be just too chaotic for me to write it and of course for you to read.**

 **Also, those ones who gave me OC's may be wondering if I'm going to involve theirs. And I am sorry to say that, but right now, I'm not thinking on adding OC's anymore. And I think I owe you some explanations, so at first I thought it would be a nice idea, adding people's won characters, but now I've changed my mind. What I want to achieve is to keep the original pokemon characters. When I read some of the other authors stories I often get confused, since I don't know their OC's and eve after a long introduction to their appearance and personalit, it is not the same as if I ever saw that character! Even if you find some minor OC- it probably will be mine, since I have some too, but I don't want it to be an actual crucial part of the story. So from now on I won't be adding OC's. I'm really sorry if you waited for it to be the part of my creations.**

 **That's all for today. See you in the next chapter! (I'm still using that line, even though it is incorrect, since we're not actually 'seeing' each other) :D**


	10. Appetite comes with eating

**Nearly 100 reviews, 140 followers, 91 favorites and nearly 20,000 views on my story.** **I never thought I'd get this far :)**

 **I wonder who will get the 100th review? :D**

 **Now, I never really thanked all of you, supporting my work. So because I have some free time I'd like to mention some of the most important reviews by their names, so you can find yourself in the actual story. Here we go:**

 **All the anonymous Guests- I can't really tell how many of you wrote these, but thank you for the support :) You should really create and account so I can PM you- you know?**

 **Hero in the shadows1- How could I not include the first review?**

 **thor94- Great idea about the stones… (spoilers?)**

 **ultimateCCC- for I don't know how many reviews!**

 **BlackSilverclaw- I already covered you in some previous chapters :)**

 **BluePaw265- you convinced me into staying with Pearlshipping, which I feel is the best since I always wanted Ash to end up with Dawn.**

 **Opinionated Shipper- I really liked how you explained which things you liked and disliked the most about my work. That's what i call constructive criticism**

 **These are the ones I wanted to single out most. I think of making another of these tributes(is that what I should call it?) in the future.**

 **Now after that quick note of mine at the top, let's jump right into the story!**

* * *

„Wha-what even is that?" Ash asked looking at something which bringed some memo

ries of the past. But not the good ones.

"Scolipeeeeede!" It was a wild herd of Scolipedes furiously running towards Ash, Dawn and N. But there was also a person running towards them, right in front of the Scopliedes.

"Oh my- is that… MAX?!" Dawn was horrified as well, as she realized that the Megapede Pokemons where about to catch and tear Max apart.

"Max what happened to you?" Ash shouted to the boy, but he was currently unable to speak. HE was barely catching any breath and running faster than he ever did.

"Ash, Dawn there is no time to lose! Listen carefully to what I'm going to say right now- do not to move a muscle until I give you the permission. They will only attack when they see you moving" N barely moved his lips, since he didn't want the Scolipedes to target him.

But how are we supposed to help Max and stop those beats?" Ash shouted but stood still just like N said.

"No time for explanation, Ash. You'll need to trust me. Release Staraptor now!"

"Wha-" Ash tried to ask.

"I said NOW!" N insisted and Ash of course did exactly what N had in mind. "Now hold still…" N said and when Max was close enough "Staraptor, catch Max and avoid those Scolipedes!" N yelled and Staraptor quickly tackled Max as it made him fall on its back. Then Staraptor flew away as the Scolipedes started to attack it with Sludge Bombs.

"Oh no!" Dawn shouted as she quickly covered her mouth, when she realized it made those Scolipedes look into her direction. They completely forgot about Max as it landed few meters away safely, with Max.

As the Scolipedes moved closer to Ash N and Dawn, N stood still which made Scolipedes not see the green head. The same goes with Ash, as he saw that N's plan was actually working! Dawn was the only one left and then the Scolipedes would probably leave them be, if Dawn wasn't too scared to maintain unmoved. She took a few steps back and started running away totally frightened.

"No Dawn!" Ash managed to yell, when the Scolipede's herd charged towards Dawn. Ash was a bit faster as he had the advantage of a few steps forwards and pushed Dawn away.

"No Ash!" N shouted when Ash hand and the Scolipedes collided. To N's surprise it didn't make Ash's body fly a shit ton of meters back like it would normally do with humans body. Only a bright light flashed between them, which caused all of the Scolipedes fall a few meters back with Ash standing right where he was. And there was something weird going on with his hands…

 _Meantime, somewhere in Kanto_

"Huh?" she asked herself waking up in the night. ' _What's happening? I've not felt that strange feeling for months now. But wait a second- this feeling is a little familiar to me. Yes! There was only one person which made me felt that. Could this be him? Is it really Ash?!_ '

She stormed out of her room and quickly packed her stuff. She was in such a hurry, she unintendedly woken up person sleeping in the next room.

"What's happening here?" asked sleepily the second person.

"Huh? Oh Greta I'm sorry if I woke you up! I was just trying to find everything I need to set off" She apologized.

"I know Anabel, I'm not blind. I can see you're in such a hurry, trying to collect all of your stuff. But where are you heading in the middle of the night?" Greta asked.

"Me? Oh I'm… you know… I'm going to Vertress City to the Pokemon Master Tournament"

"I believe you did tell me yesterday you're not going anywhere? Didn't you, huh?" Greta asked surprised, since Anabel rarely changed her mind.

"Yeah I know… I just… realized I don't want to miss this event- even if I'm not in the greatest form to compete, I wanna at least watch the battles" Anabel faked a smile. Of course it wasn't the real reason and Greta knew it. But she was too tired to think about it, so she quickly dropped the topic.

"O-okay if you're willing to. But hear me out- it's not a good idea to travel by night anyway"

"You know me- I can stand for myself. Besides, I'm a psychic remember? Nothing could possibly surprise me"

"And if another psychic attacked you?" Greta asked randomly. She wasn't looking for answers at all. Too tired, remember?

"There aren't that many great psychics. Anyway, I'm gonna get going-" But before Anabel could literally run into the night, Greta grabbed her by her arm

"Say hello to Ash for me" she smiled and Anabel was dumbstruck. Greta wasn't a psychic and she still managed to read what was going on in the Salon Maiden's mind.

"Also don't forget to tell Brandon I left for the tournament! Bye!" Anabel finally gave up on understanding Greta and with that she stormed away into the night.

"But-but that's exactly what I wanted to tell you next- Brandon already left for the tournament…!" said Greta, but Anabel was already too far away to hear it. "Why do I even care?" she said, while going back to bed, to no one particular since she was left alone.

 _Back with Ash_

Ash couldn't believe what happened. Ash's hands where shining with white light. This thing caused the Scolipedes to faint! Ash didn't know why or how he managed to do that, the only thing he could think about was _"What even is that?!"_ N seemed like having a brain storm inside his mind over something. After a few brief seconds of thinking he looked towards the hurt Scolipedes "Alakazam use **Recover** on Scolipedes!" N ordered and in the matter of seconds Alakazam healed up the hurt pokemon. Of course they didn't attack anymore as they were a bit frightened of what happened a few seconds back, but N managed to calm them down as he let them free. Just like he always did.

"Ugh… my head…" Dawn slowly got up, as she dusted herself of. She hit the ground really hard from the impact of Ash's heroic act.

"W-what happened?" Max also made his way to Ash and N.

"Here have some of these" said N while handing a Berry ( **An** : I'm not gonna go over which berries are these. It's not the point of the story!) to each Dawn "This should help you recover faster"

"Ash, you're all right?" N ran to his friend.

"Yeah, few bruises, that's all. I'm more eager to hear how did _you_ know about those… things?" asked Ash as he stood up and looked at his hands which were now back to normal. He dusted himself of and stretched out a bit. It was a tiring act afterall.

"We'll talk about it later my friend. I think there is a special someone that deserves some explanation" N moved away from Ash. When he turned back he saw Max- shivering and sobbing at the same time "A-ash?" he asked and threw himself into his arms. Although Ash was taller than he was the last time they met, Max also grew up and now was reaching Ash's shoulders.

"I was so blind! Forgive me for not standing by your side from the beginning!" Max looked at Ash and begged for forgiveness.

"Hey… you don't need to apologize for anything. It wasn't your fault" Ash answered with surprisingly great amount of understanding.

"Hell yeah it was! I should have believed you, not those stupid friends of my sister!" Max left Ash's hug and wiped the tears of happiness.

"I missed you too Max" Ash patted him friendly on the back.

"But how are you alive?" Max already was looking for answers and no one blamed him- seeing your friend who was considered dead is quite a thing.

"I'm gonna tell you the whole story, so make yourself comfortable, since it may take a while" And Ash covered his whole story, from the events in the Indigo Plateau, up to today. Dawn was listening closely as well, since she didn't know the whole story, too. N didn't know why, but he enjoyed Ash's story as well, even though he knew it all, since he played a major role in it.

"Now, all you two need to know, is you can't blame yourself for anything that happened to me. These were my problems and I was the only one who should be responsible for my pain and yours since I could have at least give you the sign I'm still alive" Ash said to Dawn and Max.

"Hey Ash, cheer up! You couldn't possibly know that we were regretting what we did" Dawn said.

"If I may interrupt…" N already interrupted so they could do nothing but listen to N "Ash, do you have _any idea_ on how did you manage to survive the contact with the Scolipedes?" Ash knew exactly. It was a thing he wasn't proud about so they obvious thing he do was a flinch a little and turn his head into other direction like he didn't know.

"I think I don't understand. Did I miss something?" Max rubbed his forehead.

"Join the club- I'm as confused as you" Dawn asked for the same thing Max did.

"And what did you see exactly?" N asked those confused two.

"Yeah… Let me think… I was trying to pick some berries since I had no food left and I couldn't find anything else in this forest when they started charging towards me! I couldn't possibly know it was their food!" Max furiously tried to explain why did he end up being chased by angry Scolipedes.

"I mean what did you see going on with Ash?" N corrected himself.

"Well… after Ash's Staraptor tackled me I only saw Ash's hands like… glowing weirdly? Like a flashlight or a fire? Oh yeah, and he somehow stopped those Scolipedes" Max added.

"And you Dawn?"

"Ugh… I was horrified when they started going after me and… Ash pushed me and I thought… I thought they were going to kill him… when…" Dawn started sniffing and nearly broke up crying, but Ash was there to hug her. "When he pushed those Scolipedes back with his hands glowing" Dawn finished her sentence after a while.

"I believe you all stumbled across Aura before, haven't you?" Ash Dawn and Max nodded to N's question. Max contacted with a Ralts through telepathy, Dawn met Riley during her time with Ash and Ash was even using Aura once, but he never wanted to become a user. He lived his own life, where everything was simple- his goals and his passion towards pokemon battles. Not some kind of meditation. In fact it was never truly explained to Ash how Aura works.

"So, an Aura User uses the purity of his heart. He is able to do many things a normal person isn't able to obtain. However, when he focuses enough on something, he is able to create something like you saw. An Aura Sphere. He can simply use Aura as a weapon. That's why Aura Users are using their Aura as the last option, because their power is too strong. I stumbled across stories from other regions where Aura Users where caught and forced to use their power for wrongful acts. That's why everyone who can use Aura never revels it to the public or even his friends." N explained briefly, but good enough for Ash Dawn and Max to understand it.

"And where did you learn that all N?" Dawn asked.

"To be fair, Nacrene's Library was a big help, but also… I'm an Aura User as well…" N revealed giving a weird smirk. His head lowered, since he wanted to keep it as a secret, but he knew it was time to finally explain a few things to Ash especially. He was even convinced more after the incident with the Dark Aura.

"N?! I thought we told ourselves everything! Remember Virbank? No more lies?" Ash was very frustrated because of N, since he always had something hidden from Ash.

"Ash… Please understand Aura Users have to remain hidden. Some people are trying to get rid of us, because we hold too much power. That's why I never used it. Since I didn't want our situation to be even worse"

"Did Anthea and Concordia knew?" Ash kept asking without showing any emotions.

"Yes, since they are also filled with Aura. Look, Ghetsis didn't choose us of all people to help him unleash Reshiram. We were going to train hard to make our Auras so perfect, that Reshiram would trust us. But Ghetsis didn't want to waste any more time and called Reshiram by himself, once when I was a kid and the second time when you were with me" A lot more explaining has been done, since Max and Dawn had no idea who Anthea, Concordia, Ghetsis, Colress and Team Plasma were.

"However this brings me to the final conclusion" N said pointing at Ash "That if you were able to create such a powerful move…" N was about to get to the point where he finally revealed what was he thinking about for the past minutes.

"So you're telling us, that Ash is an Aura User?!" Dawn squealed out of adrenaline and happiness at the same time. N only smiled, he knew all the way long. That's why he went to Indigo Plateau in the first place. He wanted to remind Ash of being an Aura User, so he won't waste his life on being the Champion of Kanto. He left the presence of Ash's aura the first time they made eye contact earlier in Unova.

"He's not an Aura User- but he has the potential, to be a great Aura User. But he is not trained well in this aspect, so don't expect anything great from him- simply, Ash can't use Aura" N kept talking, it was rather uncommon for him to speak a lot.

"Than what the hell did I do few minutes back?!" It was finally Ash's turn to speak.

"Look, you're not well trained, but even a great training can't teach you to do that. You can only create an Aura Sphere when in great danger" N explained. "Now Ash, have you ever knew about your own Aura possibilities?"

"Kinda… When I was in the Tree Of The Beginning and when I met a Riolu during my travels in Sinnoh. I was even given the opportunity to be trained in Aura, but I wanted to live my journey instead" Ash explained quickly.

"So that how you located that Riolu back then. I see… And with Riley at the Iron Island. Now it all makes perfect sense" Max and Dawn understood finally after all those years.

"Now guys, quit the explains. I believe we still have a tournament to win!" he added quickly with a whole lot of vigor.

"The Vetress City is two day walk from here, so we'd better get going now" Dawn added. N and Ash looked at themselves and started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Dawn and Max said together.

"Chill out, we'll be there even if we set off in the last day" N said and presented them his friend Alakazam.

"He can teleport us?" Mas, as he learned a lot about pokemon back in the day, he knew a well trained Psychic pokemon could teleport a person or an item, but four people?!

"Yep, he is a very special pokemon" N petted his Alakazam. Although it wasn't technically his pokemon- N still preferred Pokemon to be left outside and be free to do whatever they wants.

"I believe we should start training now!" Ash yelled excited just like in the good old days.

"That's the Ash I fell in love with" Dawn said quietly.

"What was that Dawn?" Ash asked back.

"Oh, nothing, I was just thinking of which aspect I should train first" She lied, since she wasn't ready to tell Ash how she feels yet. But what she didn't know is N was able to sense her feeling very clear. But he left this information for himself, at least for now.

"Now I think some of our pokemon should do a little reunion too, what do you think?" Ash suggested.

"Still we could possibly be rivals and in case I battle any of you I will mostly train by myself, so you can't see what strategy I'll be using" Max dreamed about the day when he will be finally able to do things by himself- it took him three years from when he received his first pokemon to finally get rid of his sister.

"The old Max is back" Ash joked.

"Well… let's say he never left" Max smiled back

"Piplup, Ambipom please come out and say hi!" Dawn ordered releasing two of their pokemon.

" _Pi-Piplup?!_ " Piplup yelled out of happiness that he was able to see Ash again. The same goes with Ambipom who jumped on Ash's shoulder and caught his black hat and started playing with it. Ash of course was happy to see his old pokemon as well as Dawn's Piplup with who he had such great memories.

"Kinda rare to see Piplup happy these days…" Dawn said calmly, remembering the old times.

"Was he unhappy?" N asked.

"Yeah, after Ash left, Piplup demanded to keep him in his pokeball" Dawn sighed "But now everything is getting back to normal, so I guess I'm happy for him as well"

"Buizel, Sceptile, Staraptor, Gabite come out!"

"Hey Buizel, Staraptor, Gabite it's nice to see you again" Dawn wanted to approach Buizel, but even though she was his first trainer, he wanted to launch a Water Pulse at Dawn. Luckily, Ash was quicker "Buizel stop! Dawn and Max are friends. They didn't do anything bad to me. Please be more careful"

" _Bui Bui Buizel_ " Buziel apologized and went to Dawn to say hi.

"Wow… it still makes me wonder how greatly you trained your Sceptile" Max said as he saw the Forest Pokemon of Ash's, again.

"Whole lot of training and love towards my friends" said Ash as he petted his pokemon.

"Now Ash Ketchum- remember our agreement back in Hoenn? I challenge you to a battle- one on one, here and now!"

"Max, just for you to know, I am not going to lose our first battle!" Ash said while releasing his pokemon. Max did the same thing.

"I choose you!" They both shouted.

* * *

 _Flashback, somewhere in Unova_

" _Ah, Lance, you finally arrived, come in, come in" said the person in front of Lance._

" _Yeah, no shit. Now, why did you invite me?" he asked bitterly._

" _Hey, that's not the way to talk to your boss. Remember Lance, I can always take the Champion title away from you" Lance only gritted his teeth. He hated whenever he talked like that. But the truth was brutal. After a few incidents Lance was dragged into this weird political mess. And to remain safe and sound, he had to cooperate. He sometimes wished he was some other champion like Alder or Cynthia and never have to worry about any of these ever again._

" _Now, I've invited you here, because I've been getting pretty bad news lately. And because the Tournament is gonna be such an enormous event and you'll spend most time with the other VIPs I thought I'll make some calls and arrange a little help to you. Meet your new partners" Lance's boss pointed at the two hooded figures standing nearly at the end of the room. Soon they dropped the hoods and revealed themselves to the Kanto Champion._

" _Oh hell no!" Lance cursed himself. First he had to take Ketchum by himself for his own sake, then he has to listen to whatever he says and now he have to work with those two?!_

 _Back to present, still with Lance_

"Sometimes I just hate my life…" he thought as he remembered this rather infuriating _meeting_.

"Care to share your thoughts with us, Lance?" said Scott, who was pretty pissed, because Lance wasn't listening to what Scott had to say at all. But because all the champions, Elite Four's and other important people had to come, he was stuck in the meeting room. Scott then went back to what was he explaining earlier. Cynthia then leaned over to Lance and quietly asked "Is everything okay Lance?"

"Mphm… Yeah I'm fine" he coldly answered, not being in the mood to talk.

* * *

 _Vertress City, with Roxie_

Roxie finally arrived at Vertress City. Few days passed since she met Ash and N and she still didn't get her gym back. So practically, she was just an ordinary trainer now, until she gets her license back. So what first came to her mind was taking part in the Pokemon Master Tournament. She didn't have to ask Scott more than once. He arranged her an invitation in no time.

"Now I need to find where Ash and N are staying. It won't be easy, since they are probably hiding somewhere. But I need to find and finally tell Ash… that I was and I am in love with him" she blushed, sighed and entered the Pokemon Center.

* * *

 **Well that was a long one. Nearly 4000 words without counting the author's note. As always, a reminder:**

 **REVIEW!**

 **So, N is starting to be like a mentor figure to Ash and we finally learn he can actually use aura. I know I lied a bit about it at the beginning of the story but I wanted to make it a big reveal. Plz don't hurt me –hides away from the readers-**

 **Some of you may also be wondering why am I posting chapters in such weird hours. It is of course because of the time zones. As I've said like in the first chapter, I'm not American or basically from any other country that has to do anything with the English language. So when you see me uploading at 6 am or worse, it could be like evening for me. That's why I suggest all of you to follow my story since you won't miss any updates!**

 **I'll try to post as soon and regular as I can. I have some free time now, but in the next week or so i have some extra exams (I don't know how it's done in your country, but in mine you can pay for some extra exams and if you pass, you are placed above all the other poeple when it comes to going to another school. Because sadly, I still have to go to one) But still, I have a huge amount of ideas that are just waiting to be written down! Just wait a bit more!**

 **Everything is covered, so I'll see you in the next chapter!**


	11. The promise from the past

**Welcome guys to another chapter of Rising To The Top! (I really like the name of the story and the funniest thing is that I stumbled across it completely randomly)**

 **Again, I want to remind everybody of reviewing this story (whether you have an account or not), because it takes literally 3 minutes to write some constructive criticism in the review section, and those 3 minutes of yours makes me understand what I should improve better. So thanks if you already did it :)**

 **Also, I had to rewrite this chapter like 4 times, because every time I thought it was dull for some weird reason. So please go easy on me!**

 **Still, you're not here to read about myself, but the story. So here is the 11 chapter for you. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I'm still not rich enough to buy Pokemon Franchise, so it has to be done… I don't own anything except for the plotline, which is mine!**

* * *

"I choose you!" both men shouted releasing their pokemon from the pokeballs. After a second of waiting, it was revealed that Ash choose Krookodile, while Max choosed his Breelom.

"Wow, I have never seen this pokemon before" Max exclaimed happily as he grabbed his pokedex (updated recently to get info about all the pokemon from Unova) ' _Krookodile, the Intimidation Pokémon and the evolved form of_ _Krokorok_ _. Krookodile can see faraway objects as if through binoculars. Its jaws are strong enough to crush a car'_ his pokedex said.

"What do you think Max?" Ash proudly asked seeing the Hoenn native's interest in his pokemon.

"I think… he'll make a great part of our trainings, what do you say Breelom?" Max answered.

" _Breelom!_ " Breelom agreed with Max's statement.

"Ash, you probably still don't recognize this Breelom, do you?" Max asked causing Ash to rub his hair, like he was trying to remember when he stumbled across it. "I guessed you didn't. Well, we met him early on our journey through Hoenn" Ash nodded, yet still trying to remember "This Shroomish we met evolved and I went back for him when we finished traveling together. Now he is one of my best pokemon!" Max explained looking for admiration from N, Ash and Dawn. Ash looked closer and examined Max for a while, since he didn't have much time to think about it for the last few hours. Max was still wearing the exact same glasses, but now instead of a plain green shirt, he wore a dark green sleeveless vest and a black T-shirt underneath. His appearance was completed with a pair of bronze pants and a pair of sneakers, which were dark green as well. Max wasn't as tall as Ash, although he was taller than Dawn. Of course N was still the tallest of the whole group.

"Now are you going to battle or just stand there?" Dawn teased the two men. They both sighed and prepared for the battle.

"Let me start- Breelom use **Seed Bomb**!" Max gestured.

"Krookodile, show everyone how fast you are by dodging the attack and using **Crunch** attack!" Ash was confident, still being extremely hyped after his last battle with Paul. As planned, Krookodile perfectly dodged the Seed Bomb and ran to Breelom using Crunch. Breelom took the hit and took a few steps backwards as Krookodile quickly ran back to where he was standing at first.

"Ash has a problem, which is the type disadvantage. Breelom is a Grass-Fighting type and Krookodile is weak to both these types. He has to plan it well, since one accurate attack can knock him out" Dawn commented in N's direction.

"I have to agree. But Krookodile is a real powerhouse and it knows a variety of excellent moves, so if Max doesn't follow a concrete strategy, he might lose" N added.

"Okay Breelom, don't waste any more time- use **Dynamic Punch**!" Max yelled like it was the finals of the tournament. Actually, this fight brought the same amount of emotions like it actually was the finals. Ash and Krookodile didn't get the chance to respond, since Breelom's attack was so fast and powerful, it took a great amount of damage to Krookodile.

"I have to say Max- I didn't think your pokemon knew such powerful moves" Ash praised Max's work.

"There is a lot that you don't know about me yet" Max replied and continued to fight "Breelom- now use **Stun Spore**!" Breelom prepared itself to launch the attack.

"Krookodile- **Dig**!" and Krookodile managed to get away without being affected by the Stun Spore.

"Breelom, try to predict from where Krookodile is going to attack!"

" **Aerial Ace**!" Ash ordered and Krookodile jumped out behind Breelom, then jumping (or I should say flying? I don't know, it still confuses me how pokemon like Krookodile and Beartic can learn such moves) up high and landing its attack perfectly on Breelom.

"No Breelom!" Max cried but seeing his pokemon somehow got up, he focused again' "Breelom **Energy Ball** now!"

"Krookodile, dodge and use **Aerial Ace** again!" And since a flying type move was super effective against a grass and fighting Breelom, it knocked Max's pokemon out. It also emerged the winner of this battle- Krookodile

"Ehhh… it seems like I've lost the match I've been waiting for a long time" Max sadly admitted.

"Hey don't worry Max, it was a great battle, I'm sure you'll win next time" Ash patted Max on the shoulder.

"Yeah I guess you're right. I'll train and do better next time!" Max clenched his fists.

"~Grrrrr" something growled really loudly.

"What was that?!" Max jumped a few meters back as he remembered the whole situation with Scolipedes.

"… sorry…" Ash quietly apologized while covering his stomach. "I haven't eaten in a while" he added.

"When you think about it… I haven't eaten too" Dawn said also realizing she was hungry.

"I believe we should eat lunch then. And after that we'll head out towards Vertress City" N suggested, when his stomach started growling as well.

"Right… but we don't have any food" Max said also putting his hand onto his stomach.

"Don't worry guys… I surely have something in my backpack" Ash exclaimed happily as he put his hand inside of his backpack to see if there is something left inside.

"Gotcha!" Ash said as he brought out a few granola bars. "Do you like granola bars?" he asked.

"It's not like we have another option, do we?" Dawn said while sharing the food with Max N and Ash.

"Ash" N started as he finished his lunch "before we go to Vertress City, I want to know if you'd like me to teach you some things about using Aura? You know, like an extra activity after the battles. It should help your pokemon during the battles as well"

"Look N, I don't know. Although I'm normally hyperactive and keen on everything new- I don't know if I can handle it. As I said before, I was given an opportunity to train Aura, but I had to leave my journey and everything else behind…" Ash sadly confessed.

"Oh come on Ash! At least try!" Dawn encouraged her friend.

"Yeah, I'm with Dawn. It would be totally awesome to have you as an Aura User!" Max added.

"Ugh… Not interested" Ash wasn't sure about this whole aura thing. He was more into battling and thinking of a plan to catch Lance when he got there.

"Nothing really changed I see. And what about you two?" N asked Max and Dawn

"What about us?" Dawn asked back.

"Don't you wanna learn something about Aura?" N kept asking.

"But you said only Aura Users are able to use it" Max was positively surprised, because he thought he can't learn how to control aura, but if he could it would be more awesome than having Ash using it.

"Oh no! I think I explained it pretty badly then" N continued " Aura, is a form of spiritual energy, essence of every living creature, covering the whole universe. But only some people can understand it, use it and sense it. These people are Aura Users. You cannot become an Aura user, even if you train really hard, it a thing you have to be born with" When N finished that sentence, Max visibly lowered his head in disbelief "But! What I can teach you is how to understand Aura. Although you may never have the ability to strike someone with Aura Spheres, you'll defiantly tighten bonds with your pokemon and learn how to become more sensitive when it comes to sensing Aura" N explained. "So… what do you say?"

Max was the first one to respond "I say… let's do this!" he said hyped as always.

"Yeah… I mean if Ash doesn't want to, then at least I could try it" Dawn was more skeptical, but deep inside she was still impressed.

"Okay guys, you do your magic and I'll go for a walk" Ash said turning around and going in the opposite direction.

"What has gotten into him?" Max asked feeling a little bit disappointed Ash didn't want to try out Aura. What could have possibly gone wrong?

"That's a lot of explanation, but to cut the long story short- Ash doesn't want to learn Aura, because somewhere in the past, he was given the opportunity to learn it. But for that, he had to leave his friends and stop travelling. Of course Ash rejected the offer and then came back to journeying. Now, every time he hears Aura he automatically thinks of leaving everything behind. And Ash has already had a mental breakdown before" N explained to Max and Dawn, who never got the full story. After that, they didn't want to push the topic forward. They came to the conclusion it's time to start their, let's say 'training'.

* * *

"Right, now what?" said Max annoyingly. Dawn, N and him were sitting unmoved for a whole fifteen minutes and nothing happened.

"What do you mean?" asked N. You could not tell if he really didn't know or he played with Max all along.

"Come on N, we've been sitting like this for ages. How are we supposed to know how to improve our _'understanding of the aura'_ when you don't want to tell us how to?" Dawn joined the conversation also annoyed. She could have do all of those thigs Ash normally does- you know, training and more training.

"I already told you- sit back, relax and try to hear out what the nature says to you" N smiled. He remembered how he asked the exact same question when it came to him learning aura from his own master. Although he couldn't name himself the master, he was kinda like a mentor now, since… well… there was no one better around. Besides, N didn't force Ash to train Aura. He knew that one day Ash would come to the conclusion it's about time. And N was patient.

"All right N, you got us. We probably already learned something about patience like in those cheap movies. Where's the catch?" Dawn although claimed herself as probably the most serious when it came to this type of training, she couldn't resist, but to ask N the same doubtful question as the boys did.

"Guys you really should use more faith in a friend. It's not some kind of an X-ray, with which you'll be seeing people with Aura. It's just… You'll know when it comes to you. Like a tickle or weird feeling something…" N explained.

"Tickle? Seriously? That's all we get?" Max was frustrated a little bit. If he already decided to take on those beginners Aura lessons, he at least expected something more valuable than a simple weird feeling.

"I assure you that you're doing great up to this point. Just… don't stop and focus okay?" N pleased his little impatient friends.

"Gah… If you say so…" Max sighed out of boredom and went back- just like Dawn- to meditating. After a moment of quiet and peaceful time, N spoke.

"Now, Dawn, just because you think you're the most serious and you're paying much more attention to this- tell me, what do you hear, or feel? Call it whatever you like, just focus" N completely shocked Dawn. Shocked and amazed at the same time. Not only they were sitting quietly for over half of an hour without talking, N was able to read what Dawn was thinking about. Suddenly a question went through Dawn's mind- ' _Does this mean N knows about my feelings towards Ash?_ '

"I-I feel, like… like the nature wants to give me my fortune back. I know it sounds stupid and all-"

"No, of course not- just try to continue" N interrupted.

"For the last few years I was so unsuccessful and depressed, the nature wants me to feel joy and is willing to help me…" tears of joy appeared on Dawn's face. She was finally feeling like someone was on her side. And by someone she didn't mean Ash or N or even Max, whose possible ways of helping ended on simple cheering. Dawn meant she knew she was going to do it, because the world wanted her to do so.

When N saw the tears running on Dawn's face he knew he succeed. At least with one of the friend's training. Of course Dawn was capable of more than just receiving a message from the world, but seeing he showed her the right way to do so, he didn't need to do anything more. She was going to find a way sooner or later.

Then he looked at Max. Even when outside he looked like he had grown up, inside there were still bits of this inpatient, cocky little kid. And it wasn't a bad thing. Getting rid of all the habits is a bad thing, since it makes you a plain person. With no possibilities and dreams.

"And you Max? What do you see?" N asked.

"I mean… it's not as surprising as Dawn's meditation-"

"Max remember, always comparing you to someone else won't make you any better. You'll just simply put yourself down. And I can feel you've been doing that lately. Especially when it comes to Ash." Max simply shrugged when N said that, but he was busy meditating and decided to ask later.

"Okay… so I feel that I shouldn't rely only on my mind and understanding. Something like… burns inside me and wants me to free it. And I think I know what it is" Max didn't cry like Dawn did, but he smirked, because something new started in his life. Something that would help him become a better trainer like Ash… No! Like Max- Max Maple. No more comparing himself to the others.

 _Meantime, with Ash_

Ash always thought about Aura as a part of his life, which was left behind and he didn't want to come back to it. There were lots of reasons, but apart from a must to do it, which needed him to stop journeying, Ash already had a complicated life and he didn't want no more complications.

As Ash looked at his appearance, he came to a few conclusions. First, he needed to make his hair get to its natural color. Blonde doesn't suit him. And second, maybe even more important, he needed a new outfit instantly. He was wearing the same hoodie and pants for like 3 years. Plus his present outfit made him recall the times where he sat in the hideout alone.

Then another thing came to his mind. But this one was more complicated so Ash had to sit down. If he needs to reveal himself to the public, how is he supposed to get out of the stadium without being captured by the police and noticed by practically anyone else? If Lance knows that Ash is here for the vengeance, he is going to do whatever it takes to take Ash down... That was a thing Ash didn't thought about up to this point. All the thinking made him very sleepy. And I mean veeeeery sleeeepy… before passing out, Ash realized he sat right beside a group of angry Vileplumes, who didn't like strangers. In a matter of second they all used Sleep Powder and to Ash everything went white…

 _Meantime, Vetress City_

"Excuse me Nurse, I'm here to compete in the tournament" Roxie said approaching the counter.

"Have you got your invitation?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Yes" Roxie answered, showing the invitation she managed to get.

"Then hand it to me, as well as your pokedex so I can check your ID and your pokemon party" Roxie did just how the Nurse asked to.

"Well, Roxie. You're registered. The tournament doesn't start for couple of days, so I can't give any information on who are you battling and when" Nurse Joy explained.

"I have another question. Is a trainer going by the name Aiden competing?" Roxie asked hoping to find Ash and N.

"Hmm… let me see… No. I do not have such a name in the register. You're sure he is here? Maybe he's on his way?" Nurse Joy answered, a little bit sad she didn't help the girl.

"Maybe…"

"And what is up with this trainer? Are you a friend of his?" Nurse Joy casually asked.

"Yeah, you could say that" Roxie wasn't sure of their friendship.

"Let me guess- he sees you as just a friend, but you see him as more than just a friend right?" Nurse Joy completely shocked Roxie, because she was 100% right.

"Wow, you are really good when it comes to this stuff" Roxie replied.

"Years of meeting new people makes me a professional when it comes to psychology" she smiled.

"Anyway, if he shows up, could you tell him that I want to meet him?" Roxie asked for a favor.

"Of course, that's one of my duties here"

"Yeah… thanks for the concern" Roxie coldly thanked Nurse joy for help and went outside. In fact, she had no idea of how to find Ash and N other than patiently waiting. The worst scenario was they got captured in the meantime and she'd never see them. Or maybe they will show up, but later? Roxie didn't know. They were supposed to meet in Vertress. But she still wanted to wander around the town to possibly find them in the crowd. So she turned into the city and started sightseeing.

As much as she loved being a gym leader- she didn't have any free time, since she was also a musician. She hardly ever visited any other city if there wasn't any concert going on where she was playing with her band. After a while of thinking Roxie stumbled across a cart with Castelia Cones. She didn't eat those in a while, so she approached the cart, when suddenly, she bumped into a man standing next to her.

"Ouch!" Roxie fell on the ground.

"Oh… I'm terribly sorry" and the man helped her get up on one knee at first and then onto two legs.

"It was kinda my fault anyways, I wasn't looking in the right direction. Kinda spaced-out. So I should be the one apologizing" Roxie apologized as well.

"Oh, don't bother yourself. I could never steal that sweet smile of your face" the man complimented Roxie.

"Yeah, thanks for all that. It's really hard to find a friendly person out here. By the way, my name is Roxie" she introduced herself and smiled.

"Nice to meet you- I'm Gary Oak" the man, who revealed himself as Gary smiled back.

* * *

 **Another chapter finished. As you see, I wanted to be more original, and recently I've been thinking is Aura really good for Ash? I mean, it's super cool, but all Ash wants to do is to catch pokemon and win a league. And sometimes focusing on Aura training means devoting a whole lot of time, which Ash would maybe like to spend adventuring than trying to use Aura? But that's only my little theory. I don't force anyone to think like me.**

 **Also, I know this battle wasn't maybe the most enjoyable part, but still I wanted to make it. I'm not focusing that much on the battles, because I'm going to leave the more interesting ideas and spend some more time on writing these in the actual tournament! That's why Max and Ash's battle can seem so dull. But I'm gonna get better in writing those! I'm also keeping the rule of 4 moves per Pokemon, because it seems logical, that they can't be using all of the overpowered moves.**

 **REVIEW PLEASE!**

 **That's all for today, see you in the next chapter!**


	12. A not so warm welcome

**Hello, it's me again. Sorry for the break in-between that one and the last chapter, but I've felt like all of my courage and creativity took a vacation and left me :(**

 **Plus, I have another exams coming up- this time it's in French, cause I'm studying it as well- and I thought that writing in English isn't going to help me at all. More like it's going to prevent me from learning French. So yeah, if there is a person that studies French as a foreign language like me, probably knows how hard it is sometimes to catch up with it.**

 **Special thanks to SailorUmbreon for telling me where did I make mistakes. If you write a lot at once, things can get pretty twisted and sometimes you just make mistakes.**

 **And I know that the last chapter brought a lot of mixed emotions, especially the part where Ash states that he doesn't want to learn about aura. So, to any of you that think it's a bad idea, let the story develop a bit more :)**

 **But enough of this note- I'm back, so let's see what's in it for you today!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon**

* * *

"Oh no…" N exhaled the air and ran to Ash, who was still in the affection of the Sleep Powder.

"N?! What is happening to Ash?" Dawn yelled and Max and her went after N to help Ash.

"Ash, you hear me?!" N was visibly worried "Tell me what's going on! Let me in there!" N's only way of helping was to understand Ash's thoughts. This time there was no other way.

"N! Answer me! What's going on? What's happening to Ash?" Dawn, as she saw Ash not giving a sign of being alive.

"I-I don't know!" N shouted, finally answering to Dawn's question. "Ash please let me help. Let all of us help" N tried to shake Ash a bit to maybe wake him up like that.

"What do you mean you don't know N?" Max asked this time.

* * *

 _Meantime, in Ash's mindscape_

 _Ash was so close to finally win something! It was all down to his and his opponents last pokemon. Ash of course had Pikachu left for the last standing._

" _Pikachu, I choose you!" Ash gestured into the battleground and Pikachu entered the battlefield with a lot of courage and strength._

" _~It's now time to see what the opponent has prepared for this final showdown!" the commentator cried. Although Ash couldn't recall whose voice was it, he defiantly knew he knew it from somewhere._

" _Dragonite take the stage!" yelled the opponent of Ash's. As Ash saw the frightening beast- Dragonite, he took a few steps back and fell down on the ground. Because he knew exactly whose pokemon it was. Lance's. Ash looked back up and saw the whole stadium cheer for his opponent and the Kanto Champion. As Ash looked over to Pikachu, who was intimidated by Dragonite as well, he looked over to the referee._

" _I surrender!" Ash yelled and waved his hands. "I won't battle anymore". The ref slowly looked in Ash's direction and to Ash's surprise it was Lance as well!_

" _You can't- Continue the battle!" the ref shouted back._

 _Ash started to really get scared. He looked over the crowd once again and he couldn't find his friends. The past and the present ones, too! And the crowd… there was something weird about them all._

" _Ketchum, your turn" Lance -the one battling Ash- teased the pokemon trainer._

 _When Lance said those words, they resounded in the whole stadium. The whole crowd looked at Ash right now. And Ash didn't want to look back at the people cheering on Lance. But the curiosity was stronger and Ash saw, all of the people in the crowd being actually Lance!_

 _Ash was more than scared or frightened. Ash was going to collapse and pass out, but for some weird reason he couldn't control his own legs._

" _Dragonite-_ _ **Hyper Beam**_ _!" Lance from the battlefield yelled and his pokemon released a hell of a Hyper Beam._

" _~Pikachu!" Pikachu only managed to cry before being directly hit by Dragonite and blown away._

" _Noooo! Pikachu!" Ash yelled as he saw his electric mouse pokemon fall back._

* * *

"Step aside N. Let me see!" Dawn raged as she grabbed N by his jacket and pushed him back finding herself next to Ash who was still in some kind of disease.

Max lifted N up and Dawn instantly ran to Ash, this time using more power and forcing him to the ground. He looked like he tried to fight something inside his body. Most important of all- Ash lost the connection with the world, he didn't recognize anyone and considered them not existing.

"Ash! Ash! Wake up! It's me Dawn!" Dawn tried her best, but it seemed like nothing could help Ash right now. Or could it?

"D-dawn…" Ash murmured as he eventually stopped and woke up "D-dawn?" he looked like he was trying to remember "Dawn!" Ash finally exclaimed as he woke up from this whole strange situation "What happened?" he asked. And Dawn was about to answer, probably with some of her own remarks, but N stopped her from doing that.

"You should be the one telling us. You've lost control over yourself somehow" the green haired man explained.

"Arceus… I don't remember anything… D-did I do something bad?" Ash of course cared about his friends.

"Not really. You just didn't come back to the camp. That's all" Max explained this time, before N could say something .

"If I only knew what happened…" Ash thought loudly.

"You would have known if you practiced Aura" N complained, not really knowing himself if he was trying to persuade Ash, or just saying it ironically.

"N we already covered this thing. The tournament starts tomorrow and I certainly don't want to mess up big time" Ash was also worried.

"Ash you can't hide form the truth. Aura is strong in you and it'll only make you stronger if you exercise a bit!" N tried everything to encourage his friend to try using aura, but Ash seemed like he didn't want to anytime soon.

"Let's get back to training, don't you think? We could all use some _physical_ exercise now" Max said while stretching himself, because the situation got a little bit to tense and he didn't want Ash and N to start arguing.

"I'm positive" Ash jumped straight onto his feet and as he always did, he vigorously started looking for his pokeballs, which he a of course left at the camp, but he wasn't in the mood to argue with N. And so he started running back to start his training session as quickly as he could.

At the same time, when Max and Dawn got back to training with their pokemon as well, N sat down under a nearby tree and started wondering about all of the past events ' _Why did he react on Aura like that? Why was Dawn the only one to bring him back when called his name? And why is Ash so strong without any Aura training?... I think I'm going to need an opinion of a professional. I wonder if she still has the same number?_ '

* * *

"Are we all ready to go?" Ash asked with vigor when he packed his stuff, finally being prepared after few solid days of training ( **An** : I may have lost the count of days to the tournament, while writing this story, so please do not judge me. I guess there is no point it trying to fix all those unimportant dates, you're with me on that?)

"I am" Max said. He was always prepared. You know, being the smart guy and all of that stuff.

"Me too" N stood up and dusted himself off "And most important- Alakazam is ready to head out, too" the psychic type appeared as usual when no one was expecting him.

"Where's Dawn?" all of the three men asked.

"Come on Piplup, do it once again!" Dawn begged her pokemon to launch a bubble beam. To be fair Piplup got a little rusty, since it didn't have too much physical activity lately, so Dawn had to catch up quick before the tournament.

' _Pi-plup!_ ' Piplup refused to cooperate, but soon after Dawn brought out some snacks, Piplup used the bubble beam. I mean, Piplup could not resist when it came to food.

"I see… Dawn is back to her usual self" Ash smirked as things finally started to look better. He got his _true_ friends back, he is in a great condition to participate in the tournament and he is eager to feel what makes him the happiest person in the world- battling.

Quickly after, Dawn joined the boys and they were all ready to go.

"Remember, Alakazam is a powerful pokemon, but teleporting that amount of people is a thing which really tires a pokemon. So don't forget to focus on the teleporting, it may help" N reminded the group and Alakazam gestured something as his hands started to glow and everyone disappeared, leaving the peaceful forest.

* * *

 _Batman Transition sound! (If you don't know what I'm talking about- google it!)_

* * *

"So guys… what do you wanna do first? Sign up for the tournament or grab something to eat maybe?" Dawn asked, when the crew arrived to the Vetress City. Of course the term _arrived_ isn't proper. They got teleported here by Alakazam. Of course they did not just appear in the city centre out of nowhere. Alakazam chose a place where no one was around. Then they walked by foot to the city centre.

"I suggest you sign up first, while I make a call to Anthea and Concordia, they probably expect some info from us. Then we'll eat something, I'm starving again!" N suggested.

"Yeah, great plan, because I'm actually hungry, too!" Ash said cheerfully.

"Well… it doesn't surprise me at all. You've always been hungry as far as I can remember" Dawn smiled.

"You'd be surprised yourself Dawn. Ash has controlled his wild hunger lately" N interrupted with a big smile, but still said it quietly, so no one could actually hear what N was saying except for the group.

"Huh?" Dawn looked at Ash amazed.

"You could say that… I didn't eat because I was still depressed, so I was able to not eat for like…-"

"Days" N added "You can't possibly understand how much effort Anthea and Concordia put into making you eat something from time to time"

"That totally doesn't sound like you Ash" Max said, but he did it pretty loudly.

"Shhhhh! Max! Remember I'm still Aiden, not Ash!" Someone might hear us!" he put his finger onto Max's mouth. Soon after, the crew stood in front of an enormous Pokemon Center, which of course was also used as a hotel and the place for signing up.

"Welcome to the Vertress City! I'm Nurse Joy! How can I help you?" she said smiling.

"Actually, we're here to compete in the Pokemon Master Tournament!" Max yelled, while clenching his fists. Than all of the people staying in the Pokemon Center started staring at the crew wildly. They didn't know if it was because of how Max reacted, or because of their appearance, or just because they were another silly group who thought they could win the tournament.

"Of course… what else would you come here to?" Nurse Joy mentally face palmed, since she couldn't really do it, because it does not fit her personality. "Okay, are all of you competing?" she asked.

"Only us three" Dawn explained, as N left they future participants to make the call through the Pokemon Centre's phone in the other side of it.

"Great… now could you please put your Pokedexes on the counter, so I could scan them?" Dawn was first, to give Nurse Joy her pokedex.

"Here you are! You're now registered Dawn Berlitz of Twinleaf Town!" she was successfully signed up and of course Dawn tried to be cool, but she just couldn't smile when she thought about those next days of competing. Ash's personality did really make a mark on hers as well.

Max then put his one on the scanner. At first he thought May called his parents and they blocked his pokedex using the Parental Lock ( **An** : I know there is no such thing, but try to follow my thought. If an really young trainer would leave without his parents giving him permission to do so, they'd just call the police and block his pokedex).He actually didn't think of it until now. His parents were so overprotective that they installed it into Max's pokedex, so if he left May, he wouldn't sign up for any type of tournament. But finally, Nurse Joy gave his pokedex back saying "Here you are! You are now registered Max Maple of Petalburg City!" Somehow his parents forgot of it, or May didn't just call them by now. Ash looked really nervous. He couldn't possibly put his Pokedex there, because Nurse Joy would see who is he. But he remembered Scott's letter where he explained, that Nurse Joy knows of his arrival. Still, he wasn't sure if he could do it. He prayed that he could overwrite this process somehow…

"Actually, I was invited by Scott himself. He said I would not have to sign up" Ash said it quietly, since all of the people in the centre were still lurking at him!

"Okay, I have some information about a man like that, but I still need your name to verify that" Nurse Joy explained.

' _Do I say Ash or do I say Aiden?!_ ' Ash had a big problem and tried to solve it inside of his mind. He couldn't possibly lose a chance of a lifetime, because of giving the wrong name! Suddenly…

"Aiden!" a person shouted from behind, before Ash could answer to the Nurse. He turned around and saw him. It was Scott! Ash's heart was pounding like crazy, but when he came into the Center Ash sighed out of relief and felt lightheaded. Scott prevented Ash from doing something really stupid.

"Aiden my friend, how are you?!" Scott looked exactly the same as Ash remembered him, which was kinda funny. It didn't matter if Scott was on a vacation or making some important business, we'd always wear the same clothes, like he was going to the beach.

"Mr. Scott do you know this man?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Yes, that's the Aiden I told you about" Scott explained, but he didn't do it quietly. If someone was not looking at Ash before, then he was now.

"I see you brought friends with you!" Scott exclaimed happily as he turned back to Ash's group. He didn't change at all. "Where are my manners, I'm Scott. And you?" Scott asked in the direction of Dawn and Max.

"I'm Dawn, nice to meet you" Dawn introduced herself.

"You know Scott, I don't think I need an introduction…" Max felt disappointed and kinda itchy at the same time. Scott didn't recognize him at all.

"Wait what?... Hmm let me think… Is that really you Max?" Scott again asked.

"The one and only" Max shook his hand with Scott's slightly bigger hand.

"I'm so sorry Max. You've grown up so much I didn't recognize you at first. And when I heard you're coming I thought you'd come here with your sister" Scott apologized.

"Scott… could we maybe, talk in a more… personal environment? Everyone is staring at us…" Ash said and Scott stood there dumbfounded for the first few seconds. After he realized what Ash said was true, he quickly replied.

"So Joy, could you give us keys to the conference room?" said Scott while taking the keys from Nurse Joy. Everyone followed him. When he stepped inside and made sure no one was spying on him, Ash Dawn and Max stepped in as well.

"So Ash, I think we can talk normally now. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding from the Nurse. She has a lot on her duty right now" Scott apologized.

"Nah, it's fine. The important thing is I can still hide until the tournament starts" Ash calmly replied.

"Ash?" Scott grabbed his arm and asked me "But I thought Max and Dawn were with the people that didn't believe you?"

"They were, but I forgave them. After all we've been through, it wasn't their fault" Ash calmly answered, and it surprised Scott how easily Ash was coming back to the topic of the betrayal.

"Ash… I first want to apologize. I couldn't find enough proof of Lance framing you. But still I totally believe that it was him. And by the look on your face, he surely did it. But I can't just jump around shouting that Lance is a murderer, because it will cost the tournament to be ended untimely. So I had to invite him either way, because the PLA wanted to. But the good thing is they totally forgot about you, so they most likely won't be prepared for your comeback. So, if you're thinking of doing something you could later regret, than I suggest you wait with your payback until the tournament ends. Therefore, no one will arrest you, because they won't have actual proof this time"

"Thanks Scott, I'll remember. No avenging before I become the Pokemon Master" Ash smirked, but inside he wanted the revenge so bad he wanted to risk becoming Pokemon Master just to kill this bastard Lance.

"Now excuse me, I have again a very important meeting with all of the Elite Four's and this old prick Goodshow. You know, he can be really a pain in the ass sometimes, even though he doesn't seem like it. Also, I already booked you the hotel rooms, you'll be very pleased. And I'll see you tomorrow at the opening ceremony!" Scott ran off. He seemed very busy and Ash was really grateful to him, for providing him the chance of a lifetime. Still, Ash didn't have time to thank him for that.

"Ash, are you seriously going to do what Scott told you to? You know, about that whole revenge?" Max and dawn asked in case Ash lied.

"We'll see…" Ash coldly answered and said no more as they went back to the lobby. But they didn't step right into the main room, because they heard some familiar voices shouting. As Ash Max and Dawn moved closer they actually saw what was going on in there…

 _Few minutes earlier, with Roxie_

Roxie and Gary, met couple of hours ago and they were having a good time. I mean, not such a good time to make a shipping out of it, but Roxie defiantly used Gary's appearance as a chance to unwind with someone neutral, who doesn't want to make you pay for anything at the gym or doesn't want you to do something else. As they came closer and closer to the Pokemon center, she explained:

"You know Gary, I think I'm going back to the Pokemon Centre. See if my friends finally arrived or not" Roxie said a little bit upset over the fact that Ash was still not here.

"You're going to the Pokemon Centre? So am I! I mean, my friends are already there waiting for me, we were supposed to meet like half of an hour ago, so yeah, I'm going to hear some pretty bad stuff about me being late again" he cheerfully responded.

"Oh come on, it won't be that bad!" Roxie joked. When they finally entered the center, she saw a certain green haired man talking on the Pokemon center phone, so she decided to say hi. She felt a huge relief, because if N made it than so did Ash.

"Gary, could you maybe wait a few seconds here? I think I might have spotted someone and I need to say hi" she explained.

"Of course. My friends are still out so I have to wait anyway" he said and sat and relaxed on a couch nearby. Roxie then made her way to N's direction and overheard a bit of conversation between him and some girl, but it wasn't any of his sisters. She has never seen that girl, but if it wsan't his sisters than who was it?

' _I know, he has a big problem with it and I don't think I can do this alone… I know, I won't bring back this topic before you arrive I promise… Yeah see you'_

That was the only thing that Roxie overheard, but it really made her worried. Was he referring to Ash? Does he have some problems, an illness maybe? She kept those questions for herself and just approached N.

"N! Hi!" she happily greeted him.

"Oh Roxie! You're here. I was getting worried" N also greeted Roxie.

"Who were you calling, cause I'm sure it wasn't your sister" Roxie was curious, but at the same time, she tried to make it like a tease, since she didn't want N to be suspicious. What she didn't know is N was able to sense that, he also felt something more, something which really shocked him, something he never felt from her up to today. The part about Roxie being in love with… Ash?

"N? Why did you space out?" Roxie asked the green haired man.

"Oh, it's nothing really" N tried to come up with some good excuse, but at the same time, a few people would appear next to N and Roxie including Gary. They were all probably his friends. At least, that's what Roxie thought, until she recalled two of Gary's friends- Iris and Cilan. It was now clear to her that those people she is now greeting are people who caused Ash so much pain. Of course she was familiar with their betrayal since N and Ash told her the whole story in the meantime. But she didn't get the names of the traitors which she never met. She only met Iris and Cilan once, so she recalled them when Ash and N told her about the traitors.

"Roxie I want you to meet my friends" Gary said and mentioned everyone by their names "Misty, Brock, May, Drew, Iris, Cilan and Stephan"

"Roxie? The Virbank Gym Leader?" Cilan and Iris stormed to Roxie to greet her. After all, it was so long since they last saw each other. She didn't expect them to talk to her, since she didn't really talk to them, maybe to Cilan a couple of times, but mainly spoke to Ash during his stay when he got the Toxic Badge, but… whatever.

"No way- is Gary Oak, flirting with a Gym Leader from Unova?" Misty teased Gary " I think it's beneath even your level if you're trying to secure a position for yourself in the finals like that…"

"Oh shut up Misty. I didn't even know she was a Gym Leader before I met her!" Gary didn't like that kind of Misty's teasingly nature. At the same time, N turned back and started walking away, which was clear for him, but not to Roxie. So because she felt a little bit weird cornered by all of those people she grabbed N by his arm and pleased him to stay with her. Little did she know he met the traitors before and a whole lot of drama was going to happen.

"Wait a second! Roxie, do you know this guy?!" Cilan asked full of anger.

"Y-yeah… He's my friend, N" she got really scared of how the group reacted to N's appearance and so she did tell them his name, what she regretted doing few seconds later. As Gary, Brock and Stephan- the tough guys in the gang cornered N, while May grabbed N by his jacket and started shaking him full of rage and anger.

"Where is my brother?!" she yelled. But she didn't do it out of being worried about her brother, she just wanted to get her hand on him which was clear for all of the people standing near them.

* * *

 **You didn't actually believe I would let Roxie and Gary stay together right? I mean Roxie is my second favorite female character in Pokemon, so I'd never do something like that to you and myself.**

 **Okay first of all, I know that Pokemon don't get as much attention as they do in other stories like this one, but I like to focus on the humans mainly, at least for now. It's the main plot of the story- Ash's comeback, not "How much can Charizard kick ass?" Because everyone knows the answer already.**

 **Second of all, I'm thinking about starting a new project, completely new story, but it may take a while for the first chapter to be published since I'm actually going to devote a lot more time to it, so it won't be boring and everything.**

 **Okay I think it's everything, considering I wrote a lot on top of the chapter. So I'll see you guys in the next chapter!**


	13. Calm before the storm

**Oh boy, it is good to be back! I seriously missed writing for the past months, but now, we're celebrating nearly the first anniversary of this story so far (I'll try to finish this story before the second anniversary) as the 16** **th** **of September is around the corner and I'm back in business. Not only with the continuation of Rising To The Top, but hopefully with other stories I'm working on as well. As for now, this is chapter 13. I have chapter 14 nearly ready to be released as well. But after that I don't really have anything else written yet. Only scrambles of ideas. So I may post more chapters in the future, it seriously depends on a new school, which has started for me a few days ago.**

 **But now, I'll let you guys read the chapter, and remember to review afterwards. It really motivates to put another chapter, really.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon blah… blah… blah…**

 **Oh, and we're starting right from where we left off, so in case if you forgot what happened, read the previous chapter!**

* * *

"I don't know!" N yelled back. Of course he could get out of their paws, but he didn't want to give them any hint about being really strong etc. So he just acted like a weakling.

"How can you not know, when I know you brought him with you here?!" May was getting impatient and so did all of the gang. At the same time, Roxie mentally cursed herself for bringing N into this. But she tried to calm everybody down, which she couldn't manage to do, since she couldn't get to him. On her way stood Gary, Stephan and Brock, stopping her.

"What are you talking about?" N played along with trying to be stupid and weak, which was kinda fun knowing that he could leave whenever he wanted. Just a little Aura Sphere should do the trick.

"I'll tell you what! May was so worried, that we got back and searched for Max! But we couldn't find him, so we know he joined you!" Drew wanted to, let's say… impress May by acting like one of the tough guys. And still, May didn't look like a sister who was worried about her younger brother. She just simply wanted her parents to ground Max and send him home.

"Like how? He easily could have come here by himself!" N still let the gang 'bully' him.

"No he couldn't! He is too much of a weakling to do anything by himself. That's why I always have to drag him with me!" May shouted so loud that practically anyone in the city could have heard her. Little did she know that this sentence Max, Dawn and Ash heard loud and clear. They just stayed hidden around the corner.

"You are the worst sibling I've ever met" N summed up the situation.

"Oh you-!" May was about to hit N, as well as Brock, Gary and Stephan (Drew was also pumping up, but everyone knew he wouldn't do it), when a voice called from the front counter. It was Nurse Joy!

"Hey, no fighting in my center!" She yelled at the gang "I suggest you get out of here or else I'll call the police!" she was furious as well. No one had the right to interrupt her work!

And when she thought everyone was going to leave, no one else, but Brock grabbed her and felt to his knees begging something about her being beautiful when she is in anger, but he was quickly interrupted by Croakgunk, who punched him and dragged out of the Pokemon Centre. The rest of the group just followed Brock's pokemon. The only ones left were N and Roxie. Ash, Max and Dawn joined them in no time.

"Young man are you okay?" Nurse Joy asked in fear he got beaten hard.

"No, I'm fine thanks, you reacted just in time" N smiled as Nurse Joy sighed in relief and went back to her counter.

"I'm so sorry N, I shouldn't have stopped you. It is all my fault that they've found us" Roxie apologized and got dramatically sad all of the sudden.

"Hey Roxie cheer up. You couldn't possibly know" N briefly cheered Roxie up. Then at the same time she was fully focused on a certain boy, in her range. ' _Should I tell him or not? I may cause him to lose focus on the tournament and he'll be pissed on me afterwards. But I cannot possibly leave it like that. I NEED to tell him! Arceus I don't know what to do!'_ she had a brainstorm. Yet still she remained calm and decided to wait for a better occasion to tell Ash about her crush. So she played it off cool.

"Roxie, got a room yet?" Dawn asked when she noticed Roxie staring at her.

"No, I haven't actually, _fuck_ …" Roxie reminded herself that she had nowhere to sleep.

"Wanna room together?" Dawn asked what she wanted to ask for quite some time. But when Roxie looked at Dawn like at a lonely teenage girl who had no one to room with during the school trip, Dawn explained "I mean, the guys got themselves one room and I have the other. Therefore it would be nice to finally have a roommate"

"Yeah, sure" Roxie answered casually.

"Fuck. If my sister knows that I'm actually here, she might stop me from competing" Max realized as he and the rest of Ash's friends and Ash himself waited for the gang of the traitors to leave the whereabouts of the pokemon center, to finally go to their hotel, without some freaks chasing them.

"Hey, don't worry Max, we are not going to let that happen" Ash calmed Max down.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it. But I know my sister- she won't stop until she finds me" he smiled back, although half-hearted.

"Looks like I'm not the only wanted one now" Ash quietly joked, so only his friends could hear that. They all responded with a small laugh.

 _Meantime, out of the Center_

"Ugh… I'm gonna get that N guy! He's such a douchebag!" May raged "And then I'm gonna find my brother and I'm gonna carry him with my own pale hands to Hoenn, so mom and dad can ground him for his whole life!" she was more than just pissed. It seemed like she was dangerously releasing her whole hate for her brother that she was hiding since he was born.

"May dear, please calm down…" Drew tried to cool her down, but he also was in fear of being punched by the raging girl.

"Yeah May, besides we all know if Max is here, he's going to show up at the opening ceremony. That's where we're going to find him!" Brock and Misty both said.

"Thanks guys, but we need something more than catching him in the middle of the stadium. We need a-"

"Humiliation" May was interrupted by Iris who ended her sentence "Great mind think alike" Iris added. Then something weird happened. A guy that was randomly walking past the group bumped into Iris and May. All three of the fell down and the guy, whose face was covered, because he wore a hoodie with the hood on, started apologizing to the girls and helped them stand back up. Of course the girls didn't mind him at all, it was just an accident, but what really surprised them was that the road they were standing on was far from narrow and the guy could have easily walked round them. Still, they started walking back to their hotel, which they booked earlier, thinking of what was awaiting them tomorrow, when the whole tournament starts.

* * *

The guy who bumped into May and Iris before, as he lost the sight of the gang, started laughing a bit and tuned into one of those little streets between the buildings. After checking if everything was clear, he took of the hood and it became clear that it was in fact Officer Jenson all the time. Then, after a brief moment a second person also hooded turned into the same alley and made his way towards Jenson.

"…" the second person said nothing, but only approached Jenson, not revealing himself yet.

Jenson also took notice of that when the second person brought out a small package and gave it to him. Then he grabbed Jenson by his collar and whispered to his ear with a low voice _"Tomorrow, after the opening ceremony, bring it to the main stadium's locker room. Wait for the instructions"_ then he quickly pushed Jenson back and as Officer Jenson stood up, the hooded mysterious figure was gone. Realizing that he would be late for his shift and Jenny is gonna become suspicious, he made his way back to the police station, so no one would accuse him of what was going to happen in those next few days.

Without any hesitation, Jenson opened the package and saw something which terrified him at first. But then again, it was the type of thing his boss would want him to do. ' _Arceus, how am I going to smuggle something like that into the stadium?!'_ he thought.

* * *

"Come on guys, I heard that the Zekrom Hotel is one of the best hotels in Unova!" Max shouted happily as he and his friends got themselves rooms in the best Hotel possible in the whole Vertress City.

"Slow down Max, the hotel isn't going to disappear. We're going to get to it either way. Especially now, when we have our room numbers already" N responded. As the group got closer to the hotel and saw a huge queue standing in the lobby to probably get themselves a room.

"What does it mean you don't have a room for me?!" a purple haired girl, who was the first one in the whole queue was standing right beside the main table and discussing something with the staff. "You know who are you messin' with? I am a C-class Connaisseuse!" the girl happened to be Burgundy, a past rival of Cilan's.

"So, Burgundy never managed to get passed the C-class" Ash smirked as they walked past the lobby.

"You know that girl?" Max asked.

"I met her a few times. But never made friends with her, so forget it…"

Ash, Max, Dawn and Roxie and N went to their rooms. They happened to had rooms right beside each other, which would come very handy if they needed to meet up quickly. As they examined the hotel, they found out that Zekrom Hotel had its own training grounds ( **An** : imagine a filed full of tennis courts, but change Tennis to Pokemon battles) and all of the guests were free to train with their pokemon there. So they did exactly what they found out. Max, Dawn, Ash as well as Roxie trained under the watchful eye of N of course. Although Roxie had something else on her mind. She wanted to talk to Ash privately, but she knew it wasn't the good time to do so. Ash was terrifyingly quiet while training, deep in his own thoughts. Some of them probably involved Pikachu, Lance and the whole tournament which started right next morning. And who knows, maybe Ash was also rethinking the idea of training Aura? However, everyone agreed not to interrupt him, so he could sort everything out by himself before the Opening Ceremony.

* * *

After a tiring session of training, Ash went to the shops, just to get something, which would let his hair get back to its primal color. He knew, sooner or later he's gonna show the world who is he, so making his hair good looking again, didn't seem like a bad idea at all. Dawn decided to stick around and came to the shops as well. For the first time in years she wanted to spend some time only with Ash.

Soon enough, an idea popped in Dawn's mind, which caused her to stop walking, as she turned around and explained "Ash, I think I need to buy something in another shop I saw. Don't wait for me!" and with that she ran off. So she left Ash to be alone, again. It's not like Ash needed company anyway. He was still thinking deeply and didn't properly communicate with anyone. Only murmured something from time to time.

Ash entered the first shop he saw selling some cosmetics. After a brief look at the products they offered, he bought the specific he wanted. Nothing really pricy, just something that would get that stupid blonde color of his head. Little did he know that in the same shop, in a second something was going to happen.

"Girls tell me once again, why did we agree to come with you?" Ash flinched as he heard that voice. Not only he recognized it, his face expression changed immediately and wanted to get out of the way as soon as possible. It was Drew. And judging by what he said, other traitors were with him. Ash nearly bumped into them in the Pokemon Center, and now he knew the shop was too small to avoid them. There was so much on his mind right now he didn't want any more complications. And yet he always bumps into them.

"Drew come on you're a man and men are supposed to help us in any way possible" May happily said as she entered the shop, with Drew letting her in like a gentleman.

"Besides, we need someone to carry our bags" Ash also recognized the second voice and it was Misty this time. As they all entered the shop, Ash saw that it nearly all of them- May, Misty, Drew, Brock, Gary, Iris, Cilan and Stephan. Ash sighed, because he would rather bump into the guys only. For some reason he didn't want to meet with May, Misty and Iris the most. As they all got in stopped immediately and stood there dumbstruck for a second. They nearly bumped into Aiden. Of course they didn't know it's Ash and Ash wanted to stay undercover at least to the first matches!

"Well, well, well… Who do we have here?!" May ironically asked "The guy who doesn't have his own life to live and has to interrupt others people business" Ash only looked at them for a second. Then lowered his head and tried to silently get past them. But Brock and Gary stood in his way.

"Where do you think you're going?" Misty added simply making her way to Ash's position.

"I'm going to mind my own business" Ash answered coldly, referring to what May said.

"Very funny Aiden" Gary sarcastically commented "Now, I believe we have a little deal to make" he added. Ash stayed quiet, so Gary continued.

"You will tell us where Max is…" by this time Ash laughed a bit, which caused Misty to shoot him a rather frightening glare "But if you don't… let's say you won't be in a condition to compete tomorrow" he threatened Ash. Again, Ash didn't have a choice. There wasn't any other door which he could use to run away. Even if Ash was a tough guy, fighting seven people didn't seem like the brightest idea.

"Why would I _betray_ my friend like that?" Ash asked coldly, putting an extra accent on the word betray. He noticed few of the faces getting more and more angry with that.

"Ha! So you admit that Max is staying with you!" Drew pointed to him, like a proper detective.

"But it's not like you're going to get him anyway" Ash added, which caused the whole group to tighten the circle they made around him even more.

"And why is that?" It was Brock's turn to ask.

"It's safe to say you can't afford the place we're staying at" Ash smirked. He angered the group even more, but he knew they weren't going to pull anything on him, since the shop is a public place.

"And _you_ can afford it?" Iris suggested, not believing any word Ash said.

"No. But let's say I know people" Ash said, again really coldly. Like he never had a heart. But he figured it worked nice enough to keep him out of trouble until the tournament starts. "Now, if you excuse me, I need to get back to my place" he tried to get through the guys, but like he assumed earlier- they weren't going to let him that easily.

"You're not going anywhere yet" Gary and Stephan told him "not until you tell us where are you staying exactly!" Ash noticed few of the people, putting their hands on their pokeballs, which seemed logical, Ash really started to piss them of. But that was the point of the whole conversation.

"Guys, guys… I don't have any pokemon with me, so it would be rude to attack me like that. Especially since people are looking at us" Ash made a circle with his index finger, making the whole group look around themselves. He was right. Starting a fight on the street was just stupid.

"-Not to mention Aiden and I will kick your pathetic asses" someone said darkly, behind all of them, which even surprised Ash at first. It was Paul standing right behind them, leaning against the wall.

" _Paul_ " everyone murmured angry.

"Come on guys, let those losers enjoy their last day, before we kick their asses at the tournament" Gary commented as everyone started leaving. Ash obviously made his way to Paul.

"So I heard you stopped talking recently. Why bother talking to those idiots?" Paul asked casually examining the ground, like he didn't care much.

"It actually helped me a lot… I just needed to get some things off my chest" Ash actually smiled.

* * *

After quite some time, Dawn spotted Ash sitting on a bench nearby. Seeing Ash less depressed, she decided to finally speak to him. She sat beside him, but she didn't know how to start the conversation. Ash didn't want to start either, until he finally spoke.

"I guess there is no coming back now, is it?" said monotonously Ash.

"Come on Ash, you were always the one cheering others up!" Dawn tried her best, but the pressure of the upcoming tournament was real.

"I know, but… it's just hard to explain what I'm feeling right now" he rubbed his back. "And to make things worse, I bumped into those idiots right away. But if it wasn't for Paul, I could got recognized" That caught Dawn's interest, but didn't continue the topic.

"It won't be so bad, you'll see" Dawn only said "Besides, you have us. And we're here to help you" she insisted motherly giving him a big smile. After that, they both just sat there in silence and looked at the night sky.

"Oh, I nearly forgot! I have something for you" Dawn reached out to give Ash something. It was a bag, with a completely new outfit for him. A blue and white jacket, blue pants and red sneakers. It was all completed with a red cap ( **An** : I suck at clothing descriptions, but it's Ash's Kalos outfit). Ash examined the outfit for a minute in a complete silence.

"I thought you needed something new, if you want to compete as your true self, not just some alias" Dawn explained. Ash couldn't find words for a second, which led Dawn to believe Ash didn't like it at all. "but if you don't like it, I can give it back to the shop-" Dawn sheepishly added, but finally Ash spoke.  
"Thanks Dawn. I think it's great" Ash said, enough to make Dawn smile.

"You know…" Ash continued as he grabbed the new hat of his "Mom was the one to buy me a new hat, and for some reason she knew exactly which one I'd like. She always bought the one I liked" Ash saddened a little bit, thinking about his mom to who he never explained actually what happened, but deep inside he knew she'd understand.

"I'm sorry if it brings such memories" Dawn also saddened, because she thought it hurt Ash a little seeing a new hat.

"But what surprises me really, is you also know what I'd like to wear" Ash finished as he brightened up and so did Dawn. She then moved closer to Ash and landed a kiss on his cheek. Then she snuggled to him, which really surprised Ash. He blushed a bit, but he hugged her back. Maybe Dawn needed someone to lean on as well? Who knows?

At the same time, Dawn barely could act cool outside. She kissed Ash and they were hugging! And it was all real!

"All the Pearlshipping fans are going to explode when the see that" Paul appeared out of nowhere behind the bench on which Dawn and Ash sat.

"Paul!" Both Ash and Dawn jumped when they heard him.

"What? I told you Ash I'll be back in a minute" Paul defended himself.

"Don't scare us like that ever again!" Dawn pushed Paul, but still in a friendly way. Even if she never was a fan of his, he was the one not to betray Ash's trust, so it was equal to being friends with Ash.

"Come on, let's just go to back to the hotel" said Paul.

"All right" said Dawn breaking the silence "You should try to sleep too Ash" she insisted helping him to get up.

"Right…I'll try" Ash murmured as they all made their way back to the hotel.

"And where are you staying Paul?" Dawn asked.

"I got a room here as well" said Paul as he pointed the Zekrom Hotel.

"How did you manage to get a room?" Ash asked, shocked that Paul could afford that expensive room, when a few hours ago, they was a long queue of people waiting for a room to get.

"I won a few matches here and there. Forwarned is forearmed" he answered as they got into their rooms. Paul didn't have a room on the same floor, but 2 levels under. But first he arrived to Ash's room as well so he could meet with Roxie, N and Max before they got to sleep.

Roxie, seeing Dawn coming back to the hotel with Ash, started to even be a little bit jealous all of a sudden. She knew Dawn wasn't probably pulling any dirty tricks on Ash, but still seeing them made Roxie felt like she was way behind Dawn in this 'race'.

"Goodnight everybody" said Paul as he went downstairs, while Roxie and Dawn separated from the others to their own room.

* * *

Roxie woke up. She didn't know what time it was, but she desperately needed to catch some fresh air. All those stories from Dawn, about her and Ash made her think. Does she really deserves Ash? Dawn knew him a lot and she is just another person from the past. As she walked out of the hotel she heard some noises coming from the training grounds. She reluctantly looked a bit closer, because how weird it was to train that late, even before the sunrise. Roxie realized it was Ash. ' _Hmm… No surprise he is catching up with his training now. He completely wasted the last day_ ' she smiled as she decided to approach Ash. Maybe it would finally be the right time to tell him what she wanted to?

 _Sometime earlier_

"Ugh" Ash slowly woke up, assuming it was still in the middle of the night, since it was dark outside. He stood up, holding his head, from some kind of weird fever. At least, he thought it was a fever. Then he looked around searching for the other guys beds, when the whole room quickly lightened up, revealing to Ash a huge room. Technically it wasn't a room, it was missing… like everything a room could have had. Furniture, windows, door. Basically it wasn't even a place, a bunch of white, that's all. And he realized he was no longer in his hotel.

"Welcome Ash" a deep voice from behind nearly shouted in his direction which caused this whole… 'place' to shake.

As Ash turned himself directly where the voice came from, he saw something he thought he'd never see again. It was Arceus himself (of herself, who cares?)!

"Arceus" Ash gasped pathetically kneeling to show at least some respect to the Alpha Pokemon.

"Ash, stand up" Arceus said in a rather serious tone, and the first thing that came to Ash's mind was that he did something wrong and Arceus was about to punish him. After all, it was rare to be greeted by the Alpha Pokemon. Even rare is a wrong term. It is nearly impossible for a human to even see Arceus once!

"Arceus, what did I do to deserve your presence here?" Ash asked in full respect.

"Ash, as the creator of the world of Pokemon, I want to thank you, for giving all of your pokemon a free will. Thanks to you, they can do whatever they want and they aren't stuffed in Pokeballs forever"

"Of course I gave them the free will. That's all I could do for them for helping me in journeying for all those years. Although I wanted some of them to come with me" Ash became more and more thoughtful with every second this conversation lasted.

"Speaking of which" This caught Ash's eye "I know there's certain someone that wants to help you in your journey" Arceus explained.

"Who is it?" Ash asked pretty hyped.

"You'll find out yourself when you wake up" Arceus responded. "Now, a great danger is coming towards your direction. You and your friends are involved and will play a major role in defeating the danger. Also, watch out for those ones that aren't your friends anymore. I sense they'll play a role too" Arceus kept explaining.

"What danger is it?" Ash asked.

"I can't tell you exactly. It's you who needs to save the world, again" Arceus chuckled at the last word "I may be the Alpha Pokemon, but it doesn't mean I can interfere when I want. I gave this world a free will, and it needs to stand for itself" Arceus said and some kind of rock or stone appeared in front of Ash's feet. He grabbed it and examined it, but nothing came to his mind.

"Arceus, not to be rude or anything, but what is this?" Ash asked and felt like he should have known, but still if he didn't ask, he'd never find a use for it if.

"You'll find out someday. Consider it a little boost in helping the world. After all you've done to help this world so far, you deserve some advantage" Again the ground started shaking just like in the beginning and Arceus started fading away, taking all the light with himself. However, before he was gone Ash heard one last thing from him.

"You can't tell anyone about our meeting… It's the only way" and with that, everything went black.

"Anyone?!" Ash woke up. And this time, he looked around just to clear up if he was again dreaming or if it was actually his room. After a moment he sighed in relief "Huh… I'm really back" he said. Not thinking much, he dressed up in his worn out clothes and went outside. He wanted to use the outfit Dawn gave him. He looked around to see everyone else sleeping, because it was still nighttime of course. Sun wasn't going to rise in another hour. Ash then thought that if he already woke up, he should at least spend this time well.

"Oh shit! I forgot to train with my pokemon yesterday!" Ash whispered, so he didn't wake N and Max up. Then he quickly grabbed his pokeballs and went to the training grounds.

As he got out, he remembered what Arceus said about one of his pokemon wanting to travel again with him. Ash then looked to his right pocket and found a pokeball, which he never saw before. It looked like a pokeball, but it was made out of steel, or that's just how it looked. It was completely silver. He knew it was the pokemon Arceus was talking about during the night. However, Ash already signed six pokemon to the tournament, so he couldn't use it in the official battles, but who cares? If there was a serious threat going to attack soon, he needed more pokemon to fight with. But Ash didn't get to open the pokeball, as a familiar face showed up.

"Ash! Hey isn't it too early to train before today's matches?" Roxie asked, as Ash hid the pokeball inside of his jacket, because of what Arceus said. They're all his friends, but after all, Arceus is the Alpha pokemon, if he tells you something, it surely is important. So without any hesitation, Ash sweared to himself he wasn't going to tell anyone about this… meeting.

"Ash! Hey isn't it too early to train before today's matches?" Roxie asked, as Ash quickly put his hand inside of his pocket, clearly in hurry so she couldn't see what was that. At least, that's what she thought.

"What's that?" she asked.

"What?" Ash acted like he didn't knew about anything.

"That thing you just stuffed into your pocket?" Roxie pointed to his hand in the right pocket of his pants.

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Ash still seemed like a really bad actor, and Roxie's curiosity wasn't satisfied with it.

'Come on, show me what's you're hiding!" Roxie playfully said as she moved closer to Ash and nearly stuffed her hand into his pocket.

"Hey!" Ash got defiantly angry as he pushed Roxie back, causing her to fall on her back.

"Ouch!" Roxie cried as her back hurt a little. Ash quickly realized what he has done and grabbed her hand, to help her get up.

"Sorry, I… I wasn't thinking" Ash lied. At the same moment, Roxie took advantage of this whole situation and pulled herself to Ash. She hugged him tight, and she felt great. Only Ash had no idea what was going on as he is dense as fuck ( **An** : Sorry, but it's true).

Roxie then looked up to him, as he was a bit taller than her, and said "You know Ash… I'm really happy I came here… with you" Ash looked at her, puzzled "…you guys… I mean" she corrected herself.

"I'm happy too Roxie, it's nice to finally have friends who don't think you're an unstable assassin" he smiled although it brought back these bad memories, he tried his best to forget.

"Ash" Roxie started after some weird silence cause by Ash's answer "I was meaning to tell you something, I recently discovered" she stated.

"Huh?" Ash looked at her even more puzzled right now.

"I…I-I think, when it comes to our friendship, I feel like it's… a bit too formal. Like we're friends because N is our friend, but u-us to have like no knowledge about each other… right?" Roxie looked at Ash, who stared at her dumbstruck, but then answered with a simple "Right."

"So maybe… if we want to be like… real friends, we could catch up with some things and… you know… get to know each other better"

"Right." Ash still looked at her, and Roxie could have sworn he didn't blink even once ' _Gosh. I'm so relieved. Hopefully Ash understands what I meant by that_ ' Roxie thought.

' _I have no idea what she meant by that_ ' Ash thought.

* * *

 **Aaaand cut! I think it's okay if we stop here. So as you can see, Dawn and Roxie are making their moves on clueless Ash. It's funny because when you think of it, maybe someone did try to confess to you like that, but you didn't even realize?**

 **But coming back to the actual story. I'll be releasing another chapter for sure, then we shall see. If I come up with another, I'll sure post it. But I do not promise anything as I'm not sure whether I'm going to write more chapters or not.**

 **As always, please review! I know some of you have been waiting for an update badly, so I'd be grateful if you tell your opinion about this specific chapter or the story overall.**

 **But for now, see you guys in the next chapter!**


	14. HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT! (please read all)

**Hello there! I know it's weird that after such a long time I'm back! Calm down and don't run away,** **it's not the end of the world yet** **! Basically I wanted to give you guys a quick recap on why was I not uploading for such a long time.**

 **One day I completely lost any kind of push for writing fanfiction. Other things were on my mind, such as school and other major life issues I don't want to adress now or ever. But after I watched the whole XY and Z anime and after what the writers did to Ash in Sun and Moon, I became so furious I stopped slacking my ass of and wrote a new chapter of Rising To The Top. However, after I did so, I realized this story is kinda dead and I won't be able to pull out anything more from it any longer. Still, I really want to write something, as I miss those good old days where I stayed up late to continue my story :)**

 **So, I came up with a fun and dope idea for a story. It's not exactly what you saw here before, but it's a story of Ash, maybe more up to this date and it considers some major twists. Now, I may use or may have already used some scritps or ideas from Rising To the Top, but it's NOT a re-write! I'm leaving this story in my library untouched, as it's the first I've ever written and I feel a lot of nostalgia from it!**

 **But to see if there is still someone wondering where the good old Jmtx100 is going with this announcement, I decided to put up a summary of the new story (currently without a title, but I'm working on it):**

"After all the adventures in Kalos, Ash finds Serena and himself back in Kanto, accidentally shedding a new light on his family's past. Unfortunately, to get the right answers Ash makes a decision that is going to change everything in his life. Did he make a terrible mistake? Or did he do the right thing? What is behind his family's name?"

 **Hopefully I'll see you soon!**

 **~Jmtx100**


	15. NEW STORY!

**I released a new story, it's called "The Real Hero"**

 **Please check it out!**

 **~Jmtx100**


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